FIXKLER AND PRIOR'S SPIRILLUM 



465 



discovery of the cholera organism, separated a spirillum, in a case of 

 cholera nostras, from the stools after they had been allowed to decompose 

 for several days. There is, however, no evidence that the spirillum has 

 any causal relationship to this or any other disease in the human subject. 

 Morphologically it closely resembles Koch's spirillum, and cannot be 

 distinguished from it by its microscopical characters, although, on the 

 whole, it tends to be rather thicker in the centre and more pointed at the 

 ends (Fig. 138). In cultures, how- 

 ever, it presents marked differences. 

 In puncture cultures on gelatin it 

 grows much more quickly, and lique- 

 faction is generally visible within 

 twenty- four hours. The liquefaction 

 spreads rapidly, and usually in forty- 

 eight hours it has produced a funnel- 

 shaped tube with turbid contents, 

 denser below (Fig. 137, B). In plate 

 cultures the growth of the colonies is 

 proportionately rapid. Before they 

 nave produced liquefaction around 

 them, they appear, unlike those of 

 the cholera organism, as minute 

 spheres with smooth margins. When 

 liquefaction occurs, they appear MS 

 little spheres with turbid contents, 

 which rapidly increase in size ; ulti- 

 mately general liquefaction occurs. 

 On potatoes this organism grows well 

 at the ordinary temperature, and in 

 two or three days has formed a slimy 

 layer of greyish -yellow colour, which 

 rapidly spreads over the potato. On 

 all the media the growth has a 

 distinctly foetid odour. A growth in 

 peptone solution fails to give the 

 cholera-red reaction at the end of 

 twenty -four hours, though later a 

 faint reaction may appear. 



An organism cultivated by Miller 

 ("Miller's Spirillum") from the 

 cavity of a decayed tooth in a human 

 subject is almost certainly the same 

 organism as Finkler and Prior's 

 spirillum. 



Deneke's Spirillum This organ- 

 ism was obtained from old cheese, and 



is also known as the spirillum tyrogenum. It closely resembles Koch's 

 spirillum in microscopic appearances, though it is rather thinner and 

 smaller. Its growth in gelatin is also somewhat similar, but liquefaction 

 proceeds more rapidly, and the bell-shaped depression on the surface is 

 larger and shallower, whilst the growth has a more distinctly yellowish 

 tint. The colonies in plates also show points of resemblance, though the 

 youngest colonies are rather smoother and more regular on the surface, 

 and liquefaction occurs more rapidly than in the case of the cholera 



3 



FIG. 137. Puncture cultures in 

 peptone-gelatin. 



A. Metchnikoff's spirillum. Five 



days' growth. 



B. Finkler and Prior's spirillum. 



Four days' growth. 

 Natural size. 



