100 



cillas and in the disaggregation of the 

 granulesry. 



5o— From the study of cultures of 

 tubercle bacilli in artificial culture me- 

 dia it is very difficult to conclude whe- 

 ter the modification in the morphology 

 of the bacilli and the granular disaggre- 

 gation depend exclusively on the condi- 

 tions of vitality of the virus. 



And, in fact, even in the homoge- 

 neous cultures, in which the greatest 

 modifications in form and virulence of 

 the tubercle bacillus are seen, the deve- 

 lopment of the culture is made easier 

 by successive transplanting. Yet under 

 normal conditions of development in ar- 

 tificial media, the ageing of cultures cau- 

 ses the appearance of a greater number 

 of modified forms than is found in vi- 

 gourous colonies. 



And, what should be remarked is 

 that however great the age, provided 

 the culture remain aUve, even if there 

 should be a certain attenuation of the 

 virus, it does not lose its infective 

 power. 



From the observation of tuberculous 

 infection, however, it is clear that the 

 morphological variation of the virus obey, 

 to a certain extent, the resistance of the 

 organism in which it develops. 



In chronic pulmonary tuberculosis 

 the granular form is more frequently 

 observed than in cases of acute and 

 sub-acute evolution and this is more 

 easily verified in old cases of cavitary 

 tuberculosis. 



The finding of the granular form 

 in cases of lupus, the variety of acid- 



lasl forms iu these lesions, are facts 

 that agree in indicating a certain con- 

 nection between cause and effect: they 

 allow one to presume that the granular 

 form is the form of resistance of the 

 virus representing its residual infecti- 

 ve fonn. 



Acid fastness is a character acquired 

 with the cycle of evolution of the germ. 

 In recent as in old cultures this charac- 

 ter may fail without their ceasing, for 

 this rea.son, to be infectious. 



Granulations are always found in 

 these cultures. If, by any chance, in re- 

 cent cultures the granulations should ha- 

 ve a less condensed structur this ap- 

 pears to be connected with the bacillary 

 reproduction and production of smaller 

 granulations deriving from the others. 



The study of the bacillus' cytologv- 

 shows that the granulation has an essen- 

 tial function in reproduction. [FONTES 

 (l)j. Noiw the granulation being the 

 origin of the bacillary body, its being 

 eliminated from the body of the micro- 

 be to form new centers of development 

 of cultures, its not being destroyed by 

 the ordinary causes of destruction ap- 

 pearing in culture media, such as exhaus- 

 tion of the medium, action of ferments 

 elaborated by the culture, modification 

 of physico-chemical conditions of cul- 

 ture medium, one may logically admit 

 that «the increasing and freeing of the 

 granulations of bacilli in aged cultures 

 represents the effort of resistance the vi- 

 rus opposes to the causes that interfera 

 with its vitality». 



