360 Suppuration 



The pairs resemble gonococci. They measure i . 25 to i . 75^ in 

 length and 0.5 to 0.75 ^ in breadth. Each is surrounded by 

 a halo that varies in width from 1.5 to 3.0 (/, which shows 

 best in cultures grown on human blood-serum. The usual 

 capsule stains fail to color this halo when the organisms are 

 from artificial cultures, though they show it well when they 

 are in pus. The organisms stain with ordinary dyes and by 

 Gram's method. 



The cultures resemble those of Streptococcus pyogenes, 

 but are rather more luxuriant, the colonies having a bluish 



* 



/ - 



Fig. 107. Streptococcus mucosus, from peritoneal exudate. X 1200 

 (Howard and Perkins, in " Journal of Medical Research "). 



cast. The organism ferments inulin, which makes Hiss think 

 it related to the pneumococcus. 



The organism taken at autopsy and inoculated into the 

 peritoneum of a guinea-pig caused the animal to die, coma- 

 tose, in thirty-six hours with peritonitis. There were 15 to 

 20 c.c. of peculiar viscid fluid in the peritoneal cavity. It 

 had a grayish purulent character and contained numerous 

 flakes of fibrin. There was no generalized infection. Mice 

 and rabbits were susceptible and died of generalized in- 

 fection. 



The organism is not infrequently found as an apparently 

 harmless tenant of the human mouth, where it maybe con- 

 fused with the pneumococcus. It has also turned up un- 

 expectedly in a variety of inflammatory diseases. 



