Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 May 2009
1. The nature of the probit-log survival-time relationship in the disinfection of standard cultures of Bact. coli at 51° C. at pH values ranging from 2·8 to 8·8 has been studied.
2. It is concluded that there is a very close approximation to a bilinear form in all cases, though there was evidence that a continuous curve concave upwards and to the left would provide a better fit.
3. Probit limits, corresponding to the range of percentage mortality within which, having regard to the experimental error involved, an observation might lie, have been worked out. The range covered by these probit limits decreases as the percentage mortality rises.
4. These limits have been used to decide whether a bilinear or a single straight line treatment should be applied to certain sets of data. It is suggested that they would often materially assist in deciding the range over which linearity may be assumed in any given case.