420 MEASLES. 



cultivated, and of their relationship to the disease we can 

 say nothing. 



Canon and Pielicke (1892) found, in fourteen cases of 

 measles, bacilli which they look upon as related to the 

 condition. They occurred during the whole course of the 

 disease, in the blood and in the nasal and conjunctival 

 secretion. They could be stained with methylene-blue 

 but not by Gram's method. Growth was obtained only 

 in bouillon. More extended and originally independent 

 observations on apparently the same organism have been 

 made by Czajkowski (1892-95). This observer investigated 

 microscopically fifty-six cases occurring in four epidemics 

 during the years named, and isolated the organism from 

 nineteen of them. He describes the bacilli as varying in 

 length, the shortest being .5 //, long and half that in breadth. 

 The staining reactions were as already noted. They did 

 not grow on ordinary media; but on glycerine agar, especially 

 glycerine blood agar, and on serum, after three to four days 

 at 36-37 C. growth in the form of transparent colourless 

 colonies was obtained. The organism grew most vigor- 

 ously in bouillon or in ascitic fluid. Rabbits did not 

 respond to infection, but subcutaneous inoculation in mice 

 was followed by death in from three to four days, with 

 appearances of septicaemia, the bacilli being found in the 

 blood, the spleen, and the liver. With regard to the 

 possible etiological relation of this bacillus to the disease 

 we obviously require more information. We must have 

 further observations as to its invariable occurrence in cases 

 of measles (especially in the nasal secretion, which is 

 probably the material by which infection is conveyed), and 

 also further observations on its pathogenic effect in animals. 

 Here there is the difficulty, that it is questionable whether 

 any of the lower animals are susceptible to human measles. 

 Behla claims to have caused the disease in a sucking-pig 

 by infecting its nasal mucous membrane with the nasal 

 secretion of a child suffering from measles. He states that 

 in the blood of this animal he found the protozoon-like 

 organisms already referred to. 



