172 



BACTERIOLOGY FOR NURSES 



known ; mention is made of it, however, in the earliest medical 

 records. 



Neisser in 1879 described a coccus constantly present in the 

 pus of gonorrheal infections, to which he gave the name of gono- 

 coccus. 



In 1885 Bumm succeeded in isolating it and cultivating it upon 

 coagulated human blood serum. Later he proved its specificity 

 beyond doubt by inoculating it into men and producing the 

 characteristic disease. 



Morphology and Staining. The organism usually occurs in 

 the form of a diplococcus closely resembling the meningococcus. 



The adjacent sides of the two 

 cocci appear to be slightly 

 concave, so that in stained 

 preparations they have some- 

 what the appearance of two 

 coffee beans placed side by 

 side. In the early stages of 

 the disease the organisms ap- 

 pear free or lying on the sur- 

 face of desquamated epithelial 

 cells. When the secretion be- 

 comes purulent they may be 

 seen within the protoplasm of 

 the leukocytes in such num- 

 bers that the latter may appear to be filled with them. As the 

 disease becomes more chronic the phagocytes appear to become 

 less active and fewer organisms are found engulfed within them. 

 (Fig. 26.) 



The gonococcus is not motile, does not produce spores, is easily 

 stained with any of the basic dyes, and is Gram negative. 



Cultivation. Growth takes place best at body temperature ; 

 below 25 C. and above 40 C. no development occurs. It is 

 advisable to inoculate media as soon as possible after obtaining 

 material from the body and to place the tubes in the incubator 

 at once. 



FIG. 26. Gonococci within and near to 

 Leukocytes. 



