CLASSIFICATION AND IDENTIFICATION 



779 



them appear to ferment maltose, lactose, dextrin and inositol in addition to glucose 

 mannitol and sucrose. It is very doubtful whether these strains form a true 

 soluble hsemolysin ; the clearing on a blood agar plate is insufficient evidence of 

 this. If it should be proved that a true haemolysin is formed, it may be necessary 

 to divide the haemorrhagic septicaemia group of organisms into a non-hsemolytic 

 and a haemolytic sub-group, and award each sub-group a specific name. 



We may note here that Dungal (1931) in Iceland, studying acute contagious 

 pneumonia in sheep, cultivated an organism which resembled thQ hsemorrhagic 

 septicaemia group, but differed from it in the following respects. It was Gram- 

 positive in young broth cultures, and tended to be definitely rod-shaped, 1-3 [i 

 in length ; it failed to grow at 22° C, in gelatin or broth ; it grew on MacConkey 

 agar ; it fermented maltose ; it did not produce indole ; it died out in 2 to 5 days 

 in culture at room temperature, and it was pathogenic to mice, but not to rabbits 

 or guinea-pigs. The organism was said to be non-hsemolytic, differing in this 

 respect from the haemolytic group of organisms described by Newsom and Cross, 

 some of which were likewise isolated from sheep suffering from pneumonia. In 

 Australia, Beveridge (1937) isolated a bacillus, very similar to that described by 

 Dungal, from sheep suffering from lesions of the digestive organs and lungs. 



TABLE 50 



Motility in 18-hour cultures 

 at22°C 



Litmus Milk 



Sugars 



Indole 



M.R 



^ Methylene Blue Reduction . 

 Growth on MacConkey . 

 Pathogenicity to white rats . 



Past. pesHs. 



— or slight acid 



Acid in glucose, 

 maltose, mannitol 

 and salicin 



Past, pseudotuber- 

 culosis. 



+ 



AlkaUne 



Acid in glucose, 

 maltose, mannitol 

 and salicin, some 

 times in sucrose 



Past, septiea. 



Acid in glucose, 

 mannitol and su- 

 crose, sometimes 

 in maltose 



+ 



+ 



+ 



^ Personal observations on a relatively few strains. 



Fedorova and Lalazarow (1935) described a Pasteurella-like organism, which 

 they isolated from a spontaneous epidemic among mice in the outskirts of Astrakhan. 

 The organisms were 1-2 /j, long by 0-5 fj, wide, Gram-negative, non-motile, and 

 capsulated. Acid was formed in lactose, mannitol, and dextrin, and acid plus gas 

 in glucose. Sucrose was unchanged. No indole was formed. The organism was 

 highly pathogenic for mice, but had no effect on rabbits, pigeons, or rats injected 

 by various routes. It is doubtful whether this organism should be placed in the 

 Pasteur ella group. 



