38 via a cannula 40 a liquid specimen suspected of harboring anaerobic microorganisms on initial injection the liquid specimen 42 will not appear to mix with composition 36 however within minutes some of the ingredients of composition 36 apparently leach into specimen 42 concurrently any oxygen carried into chamber 38 with specimen 42 will begin to diffuse into composition 36 as shown in fig7 a color change indicating the presence of oxygen will be noted in both specimen 42 and the upper zone 44 of composition 36 however within a few hours the reducing ingredients of composition 36 will reduce the free oxygen and return the composition 36 and specimen 42 to their colorless condition as shown in fig8 the specimen 42 will be maintained such that any anaerobic microorganisms contained therein will remain viable for several days when desired access to the specimen 42 may be obtained by piercing the closure 34 with a cannula and withdrawing any desired amount of the specimen 42 again any oxygen which is introduced when access to specimen 42 is obtained will be reduced by the reducing agent ingredients and the hydrogen sulfide generated by composition 36 the following preparations and examples describe the manner and process of testing the efficacy of the invention and set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of testing the invention but are not to be construed as limiting ______________________________________preparation 1amies preparationingredient weight or volume______________________________________agar 3 6 gramssodium thioglycolate 1 0 gramsdi sodium phosphate 1 15 gramsmono potassium phosphate 0 2 gramsmagnesium chloride 0 1 gramscalcium chloride 0 1 gramspotassium chloride 0 2 gramssodium chloride 8 0 gramsdistilled water 1 000 milliliters______________________________________ ______________________________________preparation 2a composition of the invention ingredient weight or volume______________________________________resazurin 0 002 gramssodium phosphate tribasic 2 0 gramspotassium phosphate dibasic 1 0 gramscalcium chloride.