258 MANUAL OF BACTERIOLOGY. 



Micrococcus gonorrheas (Gonococcus of Neisser). 

 Found in pus in cases of gonorrhea. The micrococci gen- 

 erally are in pairs, occasionally in groups of four. The 

 cocci are flattened, the flattened sides facing each other, and 

 they are often compared to a pair of biscuits. The long 

 diameter of the pair of biscuit-shaped elements is about 

 1.25 /*. The organisms are usually found attached to the 

 epithelial cells or inside of the pus-cells; they are also 

 found in smaller numbers floating free in the fluid. They 

 stain with ordinary aniline dyes, for example Loffier's 

 methylene-blue, but not by Gram's method. 



The occurrence, (i) inside of the pus-cells, (2) of pairs 

 of biscuit-shaped micrococci (3) which are not stained by 

 Gram's method, will serve to distinguish the gonococcus 

 from all the other ordinary pus-forming bacteria. There 

 are other diplococci (pseudo-gonococci), probably non- 

 pathogenic, which have rarely been found in the vulvo- 

 vaginal tract and in the urethra, which, it is said, are also 

 decolorized by Gram's method. Such organisms are not 

 likely to present all the points mentioned as characteristic 

 of the gonococcus. The recognition of the gonococcus in 

 the discharges of a case of acute gonorrhea is usually a 

 matter of the greatest possible ease. It must be admitted, 

 however, that in cases having chronic discharges, when its 

 detection is most to be desired, the diagnosis may become 

 very difficult and is frequently impossible, except by culture- 

 methods, owing to secondary infection with the ordinary 

 pus-forming or other bacteria, which may be present in 

 larger numbers than the gonococci themselves. 



The gonococcus grows only in the incubator, and cannot 

 therefore be cultivated upon gelatin. Its cultivation is in 

 fact a matter of some difficulty. The medium usually 

 selected is a mixture of agar with human blood-serum. The 

 blood-serum from the placental blood or pleuritic or peri- 

 toneal transudates, or hvdrocele fluid, has been taken. The 



