CHAPTER XXXI. 



BACILLUS PYOCYANEUS (BACILLUS OF GREEN AND 

 OF BLUE PUS) BACILLUS PROTEUS VULGARIS 

 BACILLUS OF MALIGNANT (EDEMA BACILLUS 

 AEROGENES CAPSULATUS. 



BACILLUS PYOCYANEUS. 



THE blue and green coloration which is occasionally 

 found to accompany the purulent discharges from open 

 wounds is usually due to the action of the bacillus 

 pyocyaneus. According to recent investigations this 

 bacillus appears to be very widely distributed. 



Morphology. Slender rods from 0.3// to 1/j. broad and 

 from 2/^ to 6// long; frequently united in pairs or in 

 chains of four to six elements; occasionally growing 

 out into long filaments and twisted spirals. The bacil- 

 lus is actively motile, a single flagellum being attached 

 to one end. Does not form spores. Stains with the 

 ordinary aniline colors; does not stain with Gram's 

 solution. 



Biological Characters. An aerobic, liquefying, motile 

 bacillus. Capable also of an anaerobic existence, but 

 then produces no pigment. Grows readily on all arti- 

 ficial culture media at the room-temperature, though 

 best at 37 C., and gives to some of them a bright 

 green color in the presence of oxygen. In gelatin 

 plate cultures the colonies are rapidly developed, 

 imparting to the medium a fluorescent green color; 

 liquefaction begins at the end of two or three days, 



