Cultivation 619 



that the dejecta are thoroughly disinfected, and as the micro- 

 organisms persist in the intestinal discharges for some weeks 

 after convalescence, the patients should not too soon be dis- 

 charged from the hospital, but should be retained until a 

 bacteriologic examination shows no more comma bacilli in 

 the feces. During an epidemic the water consumed should all 

 be boiled, raw milk should be avoided, and no green or un- 

 cooked vegetables or fruits eaten. Foods should be carefully 

 defended from flies, which may carry the organisms to them 

 and infect them. The intestinal evacuations and all the 

 clothing, bedding, and other articles used by the patients 

 should be carefully disinfected. 



SPIRILLA RESEMBLING THE CHOLERA SPIRILLUM. 

 THE FINKLER AND PRIOR SPIRILLUM (VIBRIO PROTEUS). 



Similar in morphology to the spirillum of cholera, and in 

 other respects closely related to it, is the spirillum obtained 

 from the feces of a case of cholera nostras by Finkler and 

 Prior.* 



Morphology. It is shorter and stouter, with a more 

 pronounced curve than the cholera spirillum, and rarely 

 forms long spirals. The central portion is also somewhat 

 thinner than the ends, which are a little pointed and give 

 the organism a less uniform appearance. Involution 

 forms are common in cultures, and appear as spheres, 

 spindles, clubs, etc. Like the cholera spirillum, each organ- 

 ism is provided with a single flagellum situated at its end, 

 and is actively motile. 



Staining. The organism stains readily with the ordinary 

 solutions, but not by Gram's method. 



Cultivation. Colonies. The growth upon gelatin 

 plates is rapid, and leads to such extensive liquefaction 

 that four or five dilutions must frequently be made to se- 

 cure few enough organisms to enable one to observe the 

 growth of a single colony. To the naked eye the deep colo- 

 nies appear as small white points. They rapidly reach the 

 surface, begin liquefaction of the gelatin, and by the sec- 

 ond day appear about the size of lentils, and are situated 

 in little depressions. Under the microscope they are 

 yellowish brown, finely granular, and are surrounded by 



*"Centralbl. fur allg. Gesundheitspflege," Bd. I, Bonn, 1885; 

 "Deutsche med. Wochenschrift," 1884, p. 632. 



