378 VETERINARY BACTERIOLOGY 



tain. The same may be said of the forms that have been isolated 

 from similar infections in other animals, among them the horse, 

 dog, and pig. 



Immunity. No method of immunization against the disease 

 has been developed. 



Bacteriological Diagnosis. A microscopic examination of the 

 unstained pus will usually reveal the characteristic granules, 

 with the radial arrangement of clubs or of tangled bits of branched 

 threads. A film stained by Gram's method will bring the latter 

 out clearly when present in small numbers only. 



Transmission. It is believed that the organism commonly 

 enters the body through a trauma, through carious teeth, or by 

 being carried into the tongue or the gum with the sharp awns of 

 certain grasses and grains. So far as known the disease is wholly 

 non-contagious. 



Actinomyces nocardii 



Synonyms. Streptothrix nocardii; Actinomyces farcinica; Strep- 

 tothrix farcinica; Nocardia farcinica. 



Disease Produced. Bovine farcy. Farcin du boeuf. 



Nocard, in 1888, first described an Actinomyces or Strepto- 

 thrix from the lesions of cattle in Guadeloupe suffering from a 

 disease termed bovine farcy. The disease itself has not been 

 adequately studied, although the organism has been investigated 

 by several workers. There is no record of its occurrence in the 

 United States. 



Morphology and Staining. The organism is slender, much 

 branched, and interwoven. In culture-media short, plump fila- 

 ments with branches may occur, and in old cultures many ovoid 

 cells are found. The organism is gram-positive, and many por- 

 tions, particularly in old cultures, are acid-fast and also alcohol- 

 fast. 



Isolation and Culture. It may be isolated in pure culture from 

 lesions directly upon artificial media. The colonies upon agar 

 are small, white, irregular, raised, and opaque. Upon glycerin 

 agar they are at first discrete, but soon coalesce, and present 

 a moist, meal-like growth. Bouillon is never clouded, but a 

 grayish, flocculent mass forms at the bottom. Milk is unchanged. 



Physiology. The organism is a facultative ae'robe. It de- 



