GENERAL SYSTEMATIC BACTERIOLOGY 267 



Multifermentans, Hiblerillus, Welchillus, Stoddardillus, Rivoltillus, 

 Arloingillus, Meyerillus and Novillus. 



Clostridium. A generic name proposed by Prazmowski (1880, p. 

 23) . The origin of the name is given in the following words : 



Um die Synonymik der Bacterien nicht mit einem neuen Worte zu bereichern, 

 habe ich den von Trecul fiir eine Habitusform des Buttersaureferments zuerst 

 angewendeten Namen Clostridium zur Bezeichnung meiner Gattung gewahlt. 



Trecul's name (as a form genus or casual name) was given in 1865 

 (p. 435). 



Two species, Clostridium butyricum and CI. polymyxa were described. 

 The genus was differentiated from Bacillus by the production of spores 

 in spindle shaped cells. In this article Prazmowski disposed of the 

 prevalent idea that Bacillus subtilis causes butyric acid fermentation. 

 Zopf (1885, p. 61) described the genus as containing organisms which 

 resemble Bacillus, but producing the spores in characteristically broad- 

 ened cells. The genus was also recognized by Schroeter (1886, p. 166) 

 with the single species C. butyricum. 



Trevisan (1889, p. 22) included Clostridium as the eighth genus of 

 his tribe Bacillee, with eight species. Bacillus amylobacter Van 

 Tieghem 1877 is given as a synonym of Clostridium butyricum 

 Prazmowski. 



De Toni and Trevisan (1889, p. 1002) described nine species. The 

 generic description given is: "BacuH dimorphi, plasmate uniformiter 

 diffuse. Sporae (endosporae) microsomae in baculis specialibus intum- 

 escentibus ortae, ovoideae vel eUipsoideo-cyHndraceae. Among the 

 species were C. polymyxa Prazm., C. butyricum Prazm., and C.feseri 

 Trev. (the cause of blackleg in cattle). 



Hueppe (1891) and Sternberg (1892) used Zopf's diagnosis. Mace 

 (1897, p. 468) concludes that the enlargement of the cell at the time 

 of sporulation (the spindle shape) is not sufficiently distinctive for 

 generic differentiation. He cites the organism of sjmiptomatic an- 

 thrax as one which shows great variation in the cell shape during 

 sporulation. 



By most writers of the last two decades the genus Clostridium has 

 been submerged in Bacillus. Fischer (1895, p. 143) divided the 

 spindle shaped bacteria into four genera, defining Clostridium as the 

 type in which the cells are motile by means of diffuse flagella. Later 

 (1897, 1903) he recognized two genera only of spindle shaped bacteria, 

 Paracloster non-motile, and Clostridium with peritrichous flagella. 



