XXVIII. FURTHER STUDIES ON THE DYSENTERY 



BACILLUS. 1 



By Dr. K. SHIGA. 



WHEN I discovered the dysentery bacillus in 1897 I found that 

 although this organism apparently remains localized in the intestine 

 and does not pass into the circulation, it nevertheless gives rise to 

 the development of specific antibodies in the serum. This fact, 

 made use of after the manner of the Gruber-Widal reaction, furnished 

 me with an important aid in the diagnosis of the dysentery bacillus. 



In the course of the following years the facts which I observed 

 in connection with epidemic dysentery have been confirmed in various 

 parts of the world, 2 especially since Kruse succeeded so well in his 

 studies on this disease in Germany. To-day there is no longer any 

 doubt concerning the identity of the bacillus isolated by Kruse 

 with mine, even though there is still a slight divergence concerning 

 certain morphological details. All of the important character- 

 istics of the bacilli discovered by me, as well as their agglutinat 

 tion by serum of the patients, have been confirmed by Kruse. Tha- 

 certain slight differences in growth may occur is not at all uncommon 

 in other bacteria, even in cholera. The question as to the presence 

 of motility is especially hard to answer. At first I stated that my 

 bacilli were motile; Kruse 'found them immotile. It is well known 

 that it is not always easy to decide whether a bacillus is motile or 

 not, and Kruse himself says concerning motility as a characteristic 

 of the coli group (Fliigge, Vol. II, page 361) that "one must be very 

 careful in deciding this point, for the movements often last but a short 

 time and are not present under all conditions of life (nutrient medium, 



1 Reprint from the Zeitsch. f. Hyg. und Infections-Krankheiten, Vol. 41, 1902. 



2 Compare also the study published since this, entitled "Untersuchungen 

 iiber die Ruhr," Berlin, 1902. 



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