386 GLANDERS ANTHRAX PYOCYANEUS 



positive, although in old cultures a majority of the bacilli are fre- 

 quently Gram-negative. 



Isolation and Culture. The organism may be isolated directly from 

 suspected material in 2 per cent, dextrose broth containing 0.25 per 

 cent, acetic acid. After two or three days growth becomes apparent 

 and a few loopfuls of the well-shaken culture are transferred to a second 

 and then a third tube of the same medium. Usually the third transfer 

 contains either a pure culture or it is greatly enriched with the specific 

 organism. Pure colonies are obtained by plating upon 2 per cent, 

 dextrose agar unadjusted for reaction, or better, upon dextrose agar 

 containing 0.2 per cent, sodium oleate according to the procedure of 

 Salge. 1 



The colonies are of two types a round, smooth-edged compact 

 colony, and a thin, semi-translucent colony with delicate filamentous 

 edges. 



Products of Growth. Bacillus acidophilus is carbohydrophilic in its 

 activities; it does not grow well in media containing proteins and 

 protein derivatives only. Indol, phenols and similar products of 

 protein degradation are not found in cultures of this organism. Gelatin 

 is not liquefied and growth is feeble in this medium. 



Frequently cultures on sodium oleate agar slants exhibit a clouding 

 of the medium; 2 the cause of the clouding is not known. 



Pathogenesis. Escherich 3 and Salge 4 have described acute diarrheas 

 in young children, characterized bacteriologically by large numbers 

 of Gram-positive bacilli in the feces which are strongly acid in reac- 

 tion; Escherich applied the name "Blaue Bazillose" to this type of 

 intestinal disturbance, because of the great preponderance of Gram- 

 positive bacilli in Gram-stained preparations prepared directly from 

 the feces. Subsequent investigations have shown that the u blue 

 bacilli" were in all probability Bacillus acidophilus, and it has been 

 shown that a condition apparently identical with that described by 

 Salge may develop in young children fed with too much maltose or 

 malz suppe. 5 



Bacillus Acidophil-aerogenes. Torrey and Rahe 6 have described a 

 member of the aciduric group of bacteria which produces acid and gas 



1 Jahrb. f. Kinderheilk., 1904, lix, 399. 



2 Kendall, loc. cit., p. 156; Rahe, loc. cit., p. 9. 



3 Jahrb. f. Kinderheilk., 1900, Hi, 1. 



4 Kie akute Diinndarmkatarrh des Sauglings, Leipzig, 1906. 



5 Kendall, Boston Med. and Surg. Jour., 1910, clxiii, 322. 



6 Jour, of Inf. Dis., 1915, xvii, 437. 



