QUESTIONS 391 



as encountered in trypanosomes. 1 They found the contents of the 

 spirochetal body perfectly homogeneous, without any indication of a 

 nucleus and a blepharoblast. The flagella had the characteristics 

 of bacterial organs of locomotion and not those found in protozoa. 

 On the Spirocheta Obermeieri they were able to demonstrate a slender 

 whip as long as the body of the organism, wavy, like the flagella of 

 other bacteria, and not coarse and thick like the flagella of trypan- 

 osomes. They observed evidences of transverse binary division at 

 right angles to the long axis both in living and stained preparations. 

 They also ascertained that spirochete included in very thin collodion 

 sacs and exposed to the action of running distilled water or directly 

 mixed with distilled water showed plasmolytic changes like bacteria 

 and not like the much more susceptible and delicate protozoa, par- 

 ticularly trypanosomes. They further demonstrated that spirochete 

 .are not as susceptible to higher temperatures as trypanosomes, but 

 act more like bacteria, and do not, under elevated temperatures, change 

 their shape and form like trypanosomes. In their rapid method of 

 multiplication when injected into susceptible animals and in the 

 production of immunity spirochete likewise act like bacteria and not 

 like trypanosomes. The author has had opportunity to study Spiro- 

 cheta pallida extensively both in the live state with the dark field 

 illuminator and in stained and silvered preparations, and he likewise 

 believes that spirochete are bacterial and not protozoan organisms, 

 that they do not possess an undulating membrane, a nucleus, or a 

 blepharoblast like the protozoan trypanosomes, and that they divide 

 at right angles to the long axis like other bacteria. Anyone who has 

 studied a large number of stained specimens of Spirocheta pallida 

 must have repeatedly seen forms where the division in the middle 

 of the long axis was clearly indicated and almost complete. The 

 forms mistaken for spirocheta dividing by splitting parallel with 

 the long axis are simply a pair of intertwined spirals and not a dividing 

 organism. 



QUESTIONS. 



1. Name and give the characteristics of the two groups of spiral bacteria. 



2. Describe the type of motility of vibrio and of spirocheta. 



3. Where was the vibrio of Metchnikoff first found? What disease does it 

 produce ? 



4. Describe the disease caused in chickens by the Vibrio Metchnikovi. 

 Describe the pathologic lesions. 



5. What names have been given to this disease in chickens? 



6. Describe the morphology of the Vibrio Metchnikovi. 



7. Describe its cultural properties. 



8. Does it always liquefy gelatin? 



9. What is the difference in animal inoculations of the Vibrio Metchnikovi 

 and of the vibrio of Asiatic cholera? 



10. What animal diseases are caused by the vibrio of Asiatic cholera? 



1 The student should compare the description as given in the chapter on Trypanosomes, 

 with the facts here given as to the morphology of spirochete. 



