CLOSTRIDIUM CHAUVCEI 883 



Morphologt/. — i-day agar plate at 37° C. Rod-shaped, 3-8 fi X 0-6 /ti, with parallel sides 

 and rounded ends. Short filaments are not uncommon. On serum or in meat 

 medium navicular and swollen forms are seen. Axis straight or shghtly curved ; 

 arranged singly, in small groups, or in short chains. Variation in depth of staining ; 

 some organisms show chromatic granules near the poles. Spores are elongated 

 oval, subterminal, and wider than the bacillus. Clostridial forms are lemon- or 

 pear-shaped. Motile. Gram-positive, but weakly so after 4 days. No capsule. 

 On surface of liver of infected animals it is found singly or in pairs, not in chains 

 or filaments like CI. septicuyn. 



Agar Plate. — 4 days at 37° C. Irregularly round, 4-8 mm. in diameter, granulo-fila- 

 mentous, effuse, transparent colonies, difficult to see ; surface is glistening and 

 very finely granular ; edge is fern-like and irregularly dentate ; greyish by reflected, 

 and bluish-grey by transmitted light ; consistency butyrous, easily emulsifiable ; 

 no differentiation. 



Deep Olucose Agar Shake. — 4 days at 37° C. Abundant growth of discrete colonies through- 

 out medium, except for 3 mm. below surface. Colonies are irregularly round, 

 0-5-1 mm. in diameter, with an opaque brownish centre and a lighter, translucent, 

 plumose periphery, with an irregularly erose edge. Moderate gas formation ; 

 medium split slightly in 4 or 6 places. 



Horse Blood Agar Plate. — 3 days at 37° C. Colonies irregularly round, 3-6 mm. in diam- 

 eter, effuse, transparent, with granulo-filamentous structure, and entire or rhizoid 

 edge. No definite hsemolytic zone, but plate is cleared shghtly. 



Agar Slope. — 4 days at 37° C. Poor, confluent, effuse, transparent growth, difficult to 

 see. Surface smooth or very finely granular, edge fern-like and irregularly dentate. 



Oelatin. — Liquefaction complete in 14 days at 37° C. 



Broth. — 4 days at 37° C. Poor growi^h, no turbidity, slight powdery deposit disintegrating 

 on shaking ; weakly rancid odour. In young cultures a turbidity is noticeable, 

 but this clears as the baciUi sediment. 



Loeffler^s Serum. — 15 days at 37° C. Effuse, confluent growth ; no digestion. 



Coagulated Egg. — 15 days at 37° C. Poor, effuse, confluent growth ; no digestion. 



Cooked Meat Medium. — 15 days at 37° C. Very shght or no turbidity ; some gas pro- 

 duction ; meat turned pink. Rancid odour. 



Resistance. — Dried on silk threads spores are destroyed by steam in 38 to 48 minutes. 



Metabolic. — Strict anaerobe. On the 



whole grows poorly. Opt. temp. 



/ ' 37° C. Very slight haemolysis 



on horse blood agar plates. 

 Hsemolyses human and sheep's 

 red cells. Forms a fibrinolysin. 



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Fio. 201.— Clostridium chauvoei. FiG. 202.— Clostridium chauvoei. 



From a surface agar culture, anaerobically, Surface colonies on agar anaerobi- 



2 days, 37° C. ( X 1000). caUy, 6 days, 37° C. ( X 8). 



