266 THE BACILLUS OF MALIGNANT EDEMA 



singly in the serous cavities of sheep dead from the disease, and 

 frequently in longer chains and pseudofilaments in the interior of 

 the parenchymatous organs. It forms spores in the body of the 

 infected animal, and also rapidly in artificial cultures. The spores are 

 generally in the middle, more rarely toward one end of the bacillus. 

 The organism is motile, and possesses flagella. 



Cultural Properties. The bacillus, under anaerobic conditions, grows 

 in the ordinary culture media; but a more abundant growth develops 

 only upon the addition of a moderate amount of glucose, which is 

 fermented with gas formation. It grows well in milk, which it coagu- 

 lates in consequence of abundant acid formation. The coagulated 

 casein is not peptonized. The organism does not grow in a medium 

 of acid reaction, and when it has, in its growth in an alkaline medium, 

 formed a certain amount of acid from glucose or lactose, the develop- 

 ment ceases. It is very probable that the bacillus occurs in the upper 

 strata of the soil, but this has not been definitely established. 



OTHER ANAEROBIC GAS-FORMING BACILLI. 



Kitt discusses a number of affections in animals under the name 

 of "pseudo-Rauschbrand." These are either clearly due to the 

 bacillus of malignant edema or one of its varieties or organisms more 

 nearly related to the Bacillus sarcophysematos bovis. According to 

 Kitt and to Carl the disease of cattle called in German "Geburts- 

 rauschbrand" (parturient emphysema) is due to a typical bacillus of 

 malignant edema. This bacterium has also been found by Jensen, 

 Home, Hutyra, and Kitt as the caue of the same disease in horses. 

 The Bacillus cedematis thermophilus, found by Kerr and Novy in a 

 cow, is probably a variety of the Bacillus sarcophysematos bovis, from 

 which it differs in certain minor cultural features, and in the fact that 

 it is very pathogenic for rabbits and rats, which are relatively resistant 

 to the typical bacillus of symptomatic anthrax. 



A peculiarly interesting member of the group is a bacillus patho- 

 genic for whales described by Nielsen. For centuries the inhabitants 

 of northern Norway have caught whales in a unique manner. They 

 noticed that these animals sometimes suffered from emphysematous 

 inflammations of the muscles, and they poison arrows by dipping 

 them into the juices of such diseased meat. If whales are hit by such 

 poisoned arrows they sicken rapidly (within eighteen to thirty-six 

 hours) and can be easily caught. Nielsen, who examined the emphy- 

 sematous whale meat and the poisoned arrows, found an organism 

 of the Bacillus sarcophysematos bovis type in enormous numbers. 

 The muscles of the whale infected with the bacillus of Nielsen show 

 the same anatomical changes as the meat of cattle sick with emphy- 

 sematous anthrax. 



Reindeer Plague. Among the reindeer of Lapland an occasionally 

 very epidemic disease which kills thousands of calves and young 



