386 SPIRILLA, PATHOGENIC VIBRIONES, SPIROCHETE 



composed of individual commas adhering together. It is actively 

 motile, possesses one flagellum, and has, like all the organisms of this 

 group, the same staining properties as the vibrio of Metchnikoff. In 

 older cultures very irregular involution forms are seen. Pure cultures 

 of the cholera spirillum can best be obtained by mixing fecal matter 

 containing it with nutrient bouillon in a flask. When kept at blood 

 temperature in the incubator a white pellicle forms on the surface. 

 This is chiefly composed of rapidly growing vibriones, and if tubes are 

 inoculated from the pellicle, and gelatin plates poured, pure cultures 

 can be obtained. In the lower stratum of the gelatin plates small 

 white dots appear, which grow up to the surface and liquefy the 

 medium. The color of the colonies soon -turns yellowish. In gelatin 

 stick cultures the liquefaction leads to a funnel-shaped excavation 

 of the surface. The organism grows in milk, which it does not visibly 

 change, but under natural conditions it is soon killed in milk because 

 it is very sensitive to acid. 



Vibrio Proteus, 1 or the Spirillum of Finkler and Prior. This organism 

 was discovered by Finkler and Prior in the feces of persons sick with 

 diarrhea. The spirilla are curved and somewhat longer and coarser 

 than the cholera vibrio ; they are often pointed at the ends and thicker 

 in the middle. In artificial cultures they form spirals which generally 

 are not as long as those of the two preceding vibriones. When the 

 culture medium is not very favorable the spirilla vary greatly in shape, 

 and often form large oval bodies or very coarse curved bacilli. For 

 this reason the organism has been called Vibrio proteus by Buchner. 

 The colonies on gelatin are darker and more regularly circular than 

 those of the cholera vibrio. The liquefaction in gelatin stick cultures 

 is very energetic, and progresses to a sacculate zone within forty-eight 

 hours. The organism ferments sugar with the formation of acid and 

 produces a fetid smell in all culture media. The spirillum of Finkler 

 and Prior is probably not pathogenic to man, but only a harmless 

 saprophyte occasionally found in the intestinal tract. It is very 

 slightly pathogenic to animals in subcutaneous and intraperitoneal 

 injection. 



Spirillum of Denecke, or Vibrio Tyrogenum. This organism belongs 

 to this group. It is not pathogenic, and was first found in old cheese 

 by the author whose name it bears. It is somewhat smaller than 

 the vibrio of cholera, and in artificial cultures forms long, slender 

 spirilla. 



Water Spirilla. A number of spirilla of this group have been found 

 in the water of rivers in Europe and America, such as the Vibrio 

 Berolinensis (found in Berlin), the Vibrio Danubius (found in the 

 Danube), the Vibrio Schuylkiliensis (found in Philadelphia by Abbott). 

 They are all non-pathogenic. 



1 The student must not confound the Vibrio proteus with the Bacillus proteus, which is 

 an entirely different organism. 



