GONOCOCCUS. 259 



many of the pus-cells contain within their protoplasm 

 numerous small, stained bodies that are usually arranged 

 in pairs. Occasionally a cell is seen that contains only 

 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. 56.) The majority of the pus-cells 

 do not contain them. 



FIG. 56. 



c 



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



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, 

 and as it is commonly arranged in pairs (flattened at 

 the surface in juxtaposition) it is often designated as 

 diplococcus of gonorrhoea. It is always to be found in 

 gonorrhoaal 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 gonorrhceal origin. 



