622 Spirillum of Denecke 



a grayish-yellow, slimy shining layer, which may cover the 

 whole of the culture medium. 



Blood-serum. Blood-serum is rapidly liquefied by the 

 organism. 



The spirillum does not grow well in milk, and speedily dies 

 in water. 



Metabolic Products. The organism does not produce 

 indol. Buchner has shown that in media containing some 

 glucose an acid reaction is produced. Proteolytic enzymes 

 capable of dissolving gelatin, blood-serum, and casein are 

 formed. 



Pathogenesis. It was at first supposed that if not the 

 spirillum of cholera itself, this was a very closely allied 

 organism. Later it was supposed to be the cause of cholera 

 nostras. At present it is a question whether the organism 

 has any pathologic significance. It was in one case secured 

 by Knisl from the feces of a suicide, and has been found in 

 carious teeth by Miiller. 



When injected into . the stomach of guinea-pigs treated 

 with tincture of opium according to the method of Koch, 

 about 30 per cent, of the animals die, but the intestinal 

 lesions produced are not identical with those produced by 

 the cholera spirillum. The intestines in such cases are pale 

 and filled with watery material having a strong putrefactive 

 odor. This fluid teems with the spirilla. 



It seems unlikely, from the evidence thus far collected, 

 that the Kinkier and Prior spirillum is pathogenic for the 

 human species. As Krankel points out, it is probably a 

 frequent and harmless inhabitant of the human intestine. 



THE SPIRILLUM OF DENECKE (VIBRIO TYROGENUM). 



Another organism with a partial resemblance to the 

 cholera spirillum was found by Denecke * in old cheese. 



Morphology. Its form is similar to that of the cholera 

 spirillum, the shorter individuals being of equal diameter 

 throughout. The spiral forms are longer than those of the 

 Kinkier and Prior spirillum, and are more tightly coiled than 

 those of the cholera spirillum. 



Like its related species, tLis micro-organism is actively 

 motile and possesses a terminal flagellum. 



* "Deutsche med. Wochenschrift," 1885. 



