THE CONOCO CCUS. 171 



coccus, a tetrad is formed, which, however, soon separates 

 into two sets of diplococci that is to say, arrangement as 

 diplococci is much 

 commoner than as 

 tetrads. Cocci in 

 process of degenera- 

 tion are seen as spheri- 

 cal elements of various 

 size, some being con- 

 siderably swollen; they *Y%?*' *^V^V M 

 lie singly or in small 

 groups. % 



These organisms 

 are found in large 

 numbers in the pus 

 of acute gonorrhoea, 

 both in the male and FlG 48 ._p or tion of film of gonorrhoeal 

 female, and for the pus, showing the characteristic arrangement 

 most part are con- of the gonococci within leucocytes. 

 , r . ,. . , Stained with fuchsin. x 1000. 



tamed within the leu- 

 cocytes. In the earliest stage, when the secretion is glairy, 

 a considerable number are lying free, or are adhering to the 

 surface of desquamated epithelial cells, but when the dis- 

 charge is purulent the large proportion within leucocytes is 

 a very striking feature. In the leucocytes they lie within 

 the protoplasm, especially superficially, and are often so 

 numerous that the leucocytes appear to be filled with them, 

 and their nuclei are obscured. As the disease becomes 

 more chronic, the gonococci gradually become diminished 

 in number, though even in long-standing cases they may 

 still be found in considerable numbers. They are also 

 present in the purulent secretion of gonorrhoeal con- 

 junctivitis, also in various parts of the female genital organs 

 when these parts are the seat of true gonorrhoeal infec- 

 tion, and they have been found in some cases in the 

 secondary infections of the joints in the disease, as will be 

 described below. 



Staining. The gonococcus stains readily and deeply 



