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The scientists used a model infectious organism, a bacterium – at the time, viruses were only a suspicion, but science knew about bacteria – Bacillus prodigiosus (which has since been renamed Serratia marcescens).

The test apparatus was a room set up with an array of petri dishes coated with agar, a material in which bacteria can grow. Each dish marked with its distance from the subject.

They squirted the bacteria into the mouths of research subjects and had them engage in various behaviors: talking, shouting, coughing, and so on. After each behavior, they slapped lids on all the dishes and took them away to incubate.

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