THE GLANDERS BACILLUS 



277 



addition to the lesions mentioned there may be foci, usually 

 suppurative, in the lungs (attended of ten. with pneumonic con- 

 solidation),, in the spleen, liver, bone-marrow, salivary glands, etc. 

 In the chronic form the local lesion results in the formation of an 

 irregular ulcer with thickened margins and sanious, often foul, 

 discharge. The ulceration spreads deeply as well as superficially, 

 and the thickened lymphatics also have a great tendency to 

 ulcerate, though the lymphatic system is not so prominently 

 affected as in the horse. Deposits may form in the subcutaneous 

 tissue and muscles, and the mucous membrane may become 

 affected. The disease may 

 run a very chronic course, 

 lasting for months, and 

 recovery may occur, 

 though, on the other hand, 

 the disease may take on 

 a more acute character 

 and rapidly become fatal. 



The Glanders Bacil- 

 lus. Microscopical 

 Characters. The glan- 

 ders bacilli are minute 

 rods, straight or slightly 

 curved, with rounded 

 ends, and about the same 

 length as tubercle bacilli, 

 but distinctly thicker. Fia 94 ._ Glanders bacim among8t broken- 

 (Flg. 94 ). They show, down cells. Film preparation from a 



however, considerable glanders nodule in a guinea-pig, 

 variations in size and in staiued with weak carbol-fuchsin. x 1000. 

 appearance, and their pro- 

 toplasm is often broken up into a number of deeply-stained 

 portions with unstained intervals between. These characters are 

 seen both in the tissues and in cultures, but, as in the case of 

 many organisms, irregularities in form and size are more pro- 

 nounced in cultures (Fig 95) ; short filamentous forms 8 to 12 ju in 

 length are sometimes met with, but these are on the whole rare. 

 The organism is non-motile. 



In the tissues the bacilli usually occur irregularly scattered 

 amongst the cellular elements ; a few may be contained within 

 leucocytes and connective-tissue corpuscles, but the position of 

 most is extracellular. They are most abundant in the acute lesions, 

 in which they may be found in considerable numbers ; but in the 

 chronic nodules, especially when softening has taken place, they 



