PARATYPHOIDBACILLUS FROM URINE OP A CARRIER 509 



The test consequently shows that the capsule producing strain 

 is not the more resistant of the two strains, rather the contrary. 

 This result is in full accordance with our virulence test. If the 

 resistance had been increased in the capsule forming strain it 

 would have been natural that the virulence should have increased 

 also, as the bacilli in the small non-lethal doses in this case would 

 have had the opportunity of growing to a number sufficient to 

 kill before they had been eliminated by the serum of the animal. 



The importance of the observation recorded in this paper is 

 mainly in the value it may have for epidemiological practice. 

 It is namely obvious that transmutations of the kind related may 

 hinder the detection of a paratyphoid carrier, as the investigator 

 will pass over colonies of an appearance so unlike paratyphoid- 

 colonies, and especially, if he finds that they do not agglutinate 

 in a specific serum. 



Theoretically it is of some interest that we have watched the 

 origin of the transmutated colonies in the urine of the patient 

 as Fletcher already has seen a similar strain arise in the stool of 

 another patient. The two cases considered together give evi- 

 dence that such transmutations may occur in the alimentary as 

 well as in the urogenital tract of patients. 



CONCLUSIONS 



The urine of a patient suffering from cystopyelitis quite sud- 

 denly showed numerous colonies of an atypical bacterium, while 

 the typical paratyphoid colonies were much reduced in number. 

 The new microbe turned out to be a capsule producing, mucoid 

 paratyphoid strain with the following characters: 



1. It grew in large, very wet, slimy colonies with a reddish 

 grey hue. 



2. The bacilli were small, the motility slight or lost. 



3. The agglutinability was specific, but the reaction was very 

 slow, the maximum reached in a far longer time than was the 

 case with typical strains. 



4. The absorption of complement took place exactly in the 

 same doses and in the same time as in tests with the typical 

 strain. 



