Bacillary Dysentery 699 



IL BACILLARY DYSENTERY. 



BACILLUS DYSENTERIC (SHIGA), 



General Characteristics. A non-motile, non-flagellated, non- 

 sporogenous, non-liquefying, aerobic and optionally anaerobic, non- 

 chromogenic, non-aerogenic, pathogenic bacillus of the intestine, 

 staining by ordinary methods, but not by Gram's method. It does 

 not produce mdol. It first acidifies, then alkalinizes milk, but does not 

 coagulate it. 



After considerable investigation of the epidemic dysentery 

 prevalent in Japan, Shiga* has come to the conclusion that 

 a bacillus which he calls Bacillus dysenteriae is its specific 

 cause. 



It is not improbable that the bacillus of Shiga is identical 

 with Bacterium coli, variety dysenteries, of Celli, Fiocca, and 

 Scala,t a view that has been further confirmed by Flexner.J 

 It may also be identical with an organism described in 1888 

 by Chantemasse and Widal. 



In 1899 Flexner,|| while visiting the Philippine Islands, iso- 

 lated a bacillus from the epidemic dysentery prevailing there, 

 which he regarded as identical with Shiga's organism. In 

 1890 Strong and Musgrave** isolated what appeared to be 

 the same organism, also from cases of dysentery in the 

 Philippines. Almost at the same time Kruseft was inves- 

 tigating an epidemic of dysentery in Germany, and suc- 

 ceeded in isolating a bacillus that also bore fair correspond- 

 ence to that of Shiga. In 1901 SpronckJt found a bacillus in 

 cases of dysentery occurring in Utrecht, Holland, that cor- 

 responded with a slightly different organism first found and 

 described by Kruse as a " pseudodysentery bacillus." 



In 1902 Park and Dunham |||| investigated a small epi- 

 demic of dysentery in Maine, and there found a bacillus 

 similar to those already described. In 1903 Hiss and Rus- 



* "Centralbl. f. Bakt. u. Parasitenk.," 1898, xxiv, Nos. 22-24. 



f'Hygien. Institut. Rom. Univ.," 1895, and "Centralbl. f. Bakt. 

 u. Parasitenk.," 1899. 



| "Univ. of Penna. Med. Bulletin," Aug., 1901. 



"See Deutsche med. Wochenschrift," 1903, No. 12. 



|| "Bulletin of the Johns Hopkins Hospital," 1900, ix. 

 ** "Report Surg. Gen. U. S. Army," Washington, 1900. 

 ff " Deutsche med. Wochenschrift," 1900, xxvi. 

 tt " Ref. Baumgarten's Jahresberichte," 1901. 

 " Deutsche med. Wochenschrift," 1901, Nos. 23 and 24. 

 |||| "New York Bull, of Med. Sciences," 1902. 



