FAMILY VIII, NEISSERIACEAE 



(Proceedings 5th International Congress 

 for Microbiology, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, 

 1950, Internat. Bull. Bact. Nomen. and 

 Taxon., 4, 1954, 95) that these groups be 

 designated as A, B, C and D. Relationships 

 of these groups to older classifications of the 

 meningococcus are shown in the accom- 

 panying table. 



Aerobic, facultatively anaerobic. 



Source: Nasopharynx, saliva and respira- 

 tory tract. 



Habitat: Human mucous membrane of 

 the respiratory tract. Often associated with 

 other organisms in inflammations of the 

 mucous membrane. 



*Dopter and Pauron, Compt. rend. Soc. Biol., Paris, Tt , 1914, 231; Gordon and Murraj', 

 Jour. Roy. Army Med. Corps, 25, 1915, 411; Griffith, Local Govt. Bd. Rept., New Series, 

 No. 110, 1916, 41; Scott, ihid., 56; Nicolle, Debains and Jouan, Ann. Inst. Past., ^2, 1918, 

 150; Evans, U. S. Pub. Health Ser., Hyg. Lab. Bull. 124, 1920, 43; Sub-Committee on A^ets- 

 sena of the Internat. Comm. on Bact. Nomenclature, Proceedings, 5° Congresso Inter- 

 nacional de Microbiologia, Rio de Janeiro, 1950 (in press) . 



** Relation of this D to other groups is unknown. 



3. Neisseria catarrhalis (Frosch and 

 Kolle, 1896) Holland, 1920. {Micrococcus 

 catarrhalis Frosch and Kolle, in Fliigge, Die 

 Mikroorganismen, 3 Aufl., 2, 1896, 154; 

 Holland, Jour. Bact., 5, 1920, 224.) 



ca.tar.rhal'is. Gr. adj. catarrhus down- 

 flowing, catarrh; M.L. adj. catarrhalis of 

 catarrh. 



Spheres 0.6 to 1.0 micron in diameter as 

 a rule. Occur singly, in pairs with adjacent 

 sides flattened and sometimes in fours. 

 Gram-negative. 



Blood agar colonies: Small, circular, 

 rather convex, grayish white to dirty white, 

 sometimes erose. 



Broth : Turbid, often with a slight pellicle. 



No acid from any of the carbohydrates. 



Optimum temperature, 37° C. Grows 

 well at 22° C. 



4. Neisseria sicca (von Lingelsheim, 

 1908) Bergey et al., 1923. (Diplococcus 

 pharyngis siccus von Lingelsheim, Klin. 

 Jahrb., 15, 1906, 409; Diplococcus siccus von 

 Lingelsheim, Ztschr. f. Hyg., 59, 1908, 476; 

 Bergey et al.. Manual, 1st ed., 1923, 43.) 



sic'ca. L. adj. siccus dry. 



Spheres, 0.6 to 1.0 micron in diameter, 

 occurring singly and in pairs with adjacent 

 sides flattened. Gram-negative. 



Blood agar colonies: Grayish, somewhat 

 dry, crumbling when an effort is made to 

 remove them. Often the whole colony can 

 be pushed about over the medium. Some- 

 times corrugated on the surface and firmly 

 adherent to the medium. Sometimes hemo- 

 lytic. 



Often difficult to emulsify; precipitates 

 spontaneously in normal salt solution. 



