SPIROCHETE 389 



stain to each cubic centimeter of distilled water. It is well to add a 

 few drops of a one-tenth per cent, solution of carbonate of sodium 

 and a few drops of glycerin to about 30 c.c. of the dilute solution. 

 The stain must act for three or more hours, and the specimen is then 

 washed in water and dried. If a precipitate has formed the slide 

 or cover-glass should be washed rapidly in 90 per cent, alcohol and 

 then again stained for some time with the dilute Giemsa stain without 

 the addition of an alkali. The best method to show the Spirocheta 

 pallida rapidly is the India-ink method, described in the chapter on 

 Staining Technique. Spirilla found on the skin, mucous membranes, 

 and in secretions of man which might be confounded with the Spiro- 

 cheta pallida are the following: Spirocheta refringens, Spirocheta 

 balanitidis, Spirocheta buccalis, Spirocheta dentium, and Spirocheta 

 pseudopallida or gracilis. The first three are generally much coarser 

 than the pallida, and stain blue with Giemsa stain, while the pallida 

 stains pink. The last two, however, are almost as fine as the pallida, 

 and as they also stain pink, they may be easily mistaken for it. 



The question whether the Spirocheta pallida is really the cause of 

 human syphilis is not fully settled: certain discrepancies still remain 

 to be cleared up. The organism, however, is generally found in 

 primary and secondary syphilitic lesions, and it is of great diagnostic 

 value in recognizing the disease. 



Spirochete in Birds. Following the discovery of the Spirillum 

 Obermeieri, certain spirochete pathogenic for birds were found, 

 and later others in mammals and man. They were found in diseases 

 of domestic birds, and resembled the Spirocheta Obermeieri, which 

 causes recurrent fever in man. The first organism of this type was 

 found in geese in 1893 by Sakharoff in Russia, and named accordingly 

 Spirocheta anserina. The same bacterium was seen by Ducleaux in 

 Tunis, likewise in geese. Marchoux and Salimbeni (1903) found 

 spirochete in Brazil in chickens, and named them Spirocheta galli- 

 narum. Since then spirochete have been reported from Rhodesia, 

 India, Soudan, Algiers, Tunis, Cyprus, Martinique, Bulgaria, and the 

 last report by Dodd comes from Queensland. Spirillosis of domestic 

 birds, therefore, appears to occur over a widespread area. The 

 disease causes fever, diarrhea, and emaciation, and either ends fatally 

 within a few days or leads to recovery. Postmortem examination of 

 dead animals shows enlargement of the spleen, enlargement and fatty 

 degeneration of the liver, and sometimes fatty degeneration of the 

 myocardium, with fibrinous deposits on the endocardium. The 

 spirilla are found in the blood during the disease. They disappear, 

 however, before death, and cannot be found in the cadaver; they also 

 disappear in the case of recovery. A single attack protects against 

 subsequent infection. The disease is conveyed from one animal to 

 another through parasitic fowl ticks (Argas miniatus), in the body 

 of which the organism can evidently remain alive for^a long time. 

 The disease can also be transferred by artificial inoculation of the 



