GROUP OF SPORE-BEARING ANAEROBES 



355 



Bacillus chauvaei 



Synonyms. Bacillus feseri; B. chauvei; B. chauveaui; B. 

 anthracis xymptomatici. 



Diseases Produced. Blackleg, symptomatic anthrax, quarter 

 evil, quarter ill, Rauschbrand, charbon symptomatique in cattle 

 and rarely in sheep and goats. 



Arloing, Cornevin, and Thomas, in 1880, described the B. 

 chauvcei as the cause of blackleg, and proved its etiological relation 

 to the disease. Kitasato first grew the organism in pure culture. 

 Grassberger and Schattenfroh _ 



have shown that this organ- 

 ism, as well as the organism 

 of malignant edema still to 

 be considered, is a member 

 of the ubiquitous group of 

 anaerobic butyric acid bacilli. 



Fig. 148. Bacillus chauvcei (Kolle 

 and Wassermann) . 



Fig. 149. Bacillus chawwi, colonies 

 in a dextrose gelatin shake culture 

 (Frankel and Pfeiffer). 



Morphology and Staining. B. chauvcei is a large bacillus with 

 rounded ends, usually single, but occasionally in pairs, 0.5 to 0.6 

 by 3 to 5 |W. It is motile by means of peritrichic flagella. Invo- 

 lution forms, consisting of greatly enlarged rods, are frequently 

 encountered, particularly in old cultures. Capsules have not been 

 demonstrated. Spores are produced, sometimes central, but more 

 frequently near a pole, rarely quite terminal. They are oval in 

 shape, and are not generally more than twice the diameter of the 



