On i\)e loss of aciò^fastness ano granular òisaggrega- 

 tion in Bacillus tuberculosis of olò cultures 



by 

 Head of Department. 



The observation of cultures of B. 

 tuberculosis in liquid culture media 

 shows that, as the cultures get older, lhe 

 microbes deposit themselves at the bot- 

 tom of the flask in which the culture has 

 been carried out. 



Seen under the microscope these 

 microbes appear altered, looking more 

 granular than in cultures under favoura- 

 ble conditions of development; numerous 

 free granulations permit one to suppose 

 that there is a microbio autolysis in the 

 culture medium. 



This phenomenon, which is con- 

 stant allows of different interpretations : 



lo) — Are the bodies of microbes aï- 

 fected by cadaveric autolysis? 



2°) — Are the bodies of microbes 

 affected by ferments elaborated in vivo 

 by the microbes? 



3°) — Are the bodies of microbes af- 

 fected by a chemical non fermentative 

 action of substances that had been pro- 

 duced by the virus? 



40) — Does the chemical composition 

 of culture medium exert a manifest action 

 on this phenomenon of pseudo-autolysis? 



50)— Are the morphological changevS 

 and the consequent granular disaggrega- 

 tion connected with the conditions of 

 vitality of the virus? 



1°) — Cadaveric autolysis is a gene- 

 ral phenomenon which, considered as 

 a consequence of the fermentative action 

 intimately connected with the physical 

 state of organised living matter, has 

 been studied isolated from external fac- 

 tors which might be looked upon as its 

 cause. 



The aseptic autolysis of organs has 

 shown that the ferments of the living, as 

 well as of the dead body, reproduce 

 within the cell the dynamic aspects of 

 matter produced by bio-chemical energy. 



In the case of bacterian elements, 

 however, observation tends to show that 

 in the absence of foreign causes the phe- 

 nomenon of autolysis is exceedingly 

 slow. 



The observation of cultures left in 

 the incubator or even under ordinary 

 conditions and kept uncontawinaled 

 shows that, although altered in form, 

 sometimes even to the extent of becoming 



