274 MICROBIOLOGY 



bacteria in a drop of bouillon dried on a cover- glass and kept 

 at the room temperature are destroyed in 24 to 36 hours. In 

 similar preparations made from agar cultures they resist dry- 

 ing from five to eight days. The difference in the time between 

 the two cultures is probably due to the thicker layer in case 

 of the agar preparations. It dies in water in test tubes in 

 from nine to eleven days. In the soil it was not found after 

 eight days. Smith states that it is destroyed in the soil after 

 four days. 



The bacterium of swine plague is very sensitive to the 

 action of disinfectants. It is killed in lime water in 1 minute ; 

 by carbolic acid in 1 per cent solution in 5 minutes, and in a 



2 per cent solution in 1 minute. Formalin in a solution of 

 1 : 2000 is fatal to it in 5 minutes. 



Pathogenesis. This organism is pathogenic for rabbits, 

 guinea pigs and mice among the smaller animals and for swine. 

 With the virulent form rabbits inoculated either subcutan- 

 eously or in the vein with very small (0.001 cc.) doses, die of 

 septicemia in from 16 to 24 hours. Guinea pigs are slightly 

 less susceptible. When inoculated subcutaneously with 0.1 to 

 0.2 cc. of a bouillon culture, they die in from 30 to 72 hours. 

 Mice succumb in about 24 hours when inoculated with a drop 

 of the culture. Pigs inoculated intravenously usually die 

 from acute septicemia in from 18 to 36 hours. If they live 

 longer there may be decided lung lesions. Less virulent cul- 

 tures cause peritonitis, pleuritis or pericarditis, killing in from 



3 to 6 days. Still less virulent cultures produce extensive 

 purulent local lesions.* 



BACTERIUM FELIS (KRUSE) MIGULA. 



Synonyms. Bacillus felis septicus Kruse. 

 Place in nature. Fiocca x discovered this bacterium in 

 the saliva of cats and dogs. It resembles morphologically and 



* For a study of the variations in the lesions produced in rabbits 

 partially immunized to this organism the student is referred to 

 Bulletin No. 6, B. A. I., U. S. Dept. of Agric., 1894. 



1 Fiocca. Centralbl. f. Bakt., Bd. XI (1892) p. 406. 



