THE GLANDERS BACILLUS. 



243 



when softening has taken place, they are few in number, 

 and it may be impossible to find any in sections. They 

 have less powers of 

 persistence, and dis- 

 appear in the tissues 

 much more quickly 

 than tubercle bacilli. 



There has been 

 dispute as to whether 

 or not they contain 

 spores. Some con- 

 sider certain of the 

 unstained portions to 

 be of that nature, and 

 it has been claimed 

 that these can be 

 stained by the method 

 for staining 

 (Rosenthal). 



FIG. 63. Glanders bacilli, from a pure 

 spores culture on glycerine - agar. Stained with 

 T> j. -j. carbol - fuchsin and partially decolorised to 

 show segmentation of protoplasm. x 1000. 



is very doubtful that 



such is the case ; the appearances correspond rather with 

 mere breaks in the protoplasm, such as are met with in 

 many other bacilli which do not contain spores, and the 

 comparatively low powers of resistance of glanders bacilli 

 containing these so-called spores is strongly against their 

 being of that nature. The powers of resistance is after all 

 the important practical point. 



Staining. The glanders bacillus differs widely from the 

 tubercle bacillus in its staining reactions. It stains with 

 simple watery solutions of the basic stains, but somewhat 

 faintly (better when an alkali or a mordant, such as carbolic 

 acid, is added), and even when deeply stained it readily 

 loses the colour when a decolorising agent such as alcohol 

 is applied. The stain employed ought therefore to be 

 pretty powerful and preferably such as not to overstain 

 much, and a weak decoloriser should be used. Loftier and 

 Schutz recommended staining of sections in an alkaline 

 solution of methylene-blue for five minutes and then decolor- 



