764 



Leprosy 



of the anilin dyes color it quite readily. The property of 

 retaining the color in the presence of the mineral acids also 

 characterizes the lepra bacillus, and the methods of Ehrlich, 

 Gabbet, and Unna for staining the tubercle bacillus, can 

 be used for its detection. It stains well by Gram's method 

 and by Weigert's modification of it, by which beautiful 

 tissue specimens can be prepared. 



Fig. 250. Section of one of the nodules from the patient shown in 

 Fig. 252, stained by the Weigert-Gram method to show the lepra ba- 

 cilli scattered through the tissue and inclosed in the large vacuolated 

 "lepra-cells." Magnified 1000 diameters. 



Czaplewski found that the lepra bacilli in his cultures 

 colored uniformly when young, but were invariably granular 

 when old. The more rapidly the organism grew, the more 

 slender it appeared. 



