MICROCOCCUS GONORRHCE^. 293 



numerous small, stained bodies that are usually arranged 

 in pairs. Occasionally a cell is seen that contains onlv 

 one or two pairs of such bodies ; again, a cell will be 

 encountered that is packed with them. Occasionally 

 masses of these small bodies will be seen lying free in 

 the pus. (See Fig. 57.) The majority of the pus-cells 

 do not contain them. 



These small, round, or oval bodies are the so-called 

 "gonococci" discovered by Neisser, and more fully 

 studied subsequently by Bumm, to whom we are in- 

 debted for much of our knowledge concerning them. 



As the name implies, this organism is a micrococcus, 



FIG. 57. 



- 



, 



6 



Pus of gonorrhoea, showing diplococci in the bodies of the pus-cells. 



and as it is commonly arranged in pairs (flattened at 

 the surfaces in juxtaposition) it is often designated as 

 diplococcus of gonorrhoea. It is always to be found in 

 gonorrhoeal pus, and often persists in the urethral dis- 

 charges and secretions far into the stage of conva- 

 lescence. It is not present in inflammatory conditions 

 other than those of gonorrhoeal origin. 



It is easily detected microscopically in the secretions 



