CHAPTER XXVIII. 



BACILLUS PYOCYANEUS (BACILLUS OF GREEN AND OF BLUE 



PUS) BACILLUS PROTEUS VULGARIS GROUP OF MALIGNANT 



(EDEMA BACILLI BACILLUS AEROGENES CAPSULATUS. 



Bacillus Pyocyaneus. 



THE blue and green coloration which is occasionally found to accom- 

 pany the purulent discharges from open wounds is usually due to he 

 action of the bacillus pyocyaneus. According to recent investigations 

 this bacillus appears to be very widely distributed. It was first obtained 

 in pure culture by Gessard. 



Morphology. Slender rods from 0.3/* to I/JL broad and from 2ju to 6, 

 long; frequently united in pairs or in chains of four to six elements; 

 occasionally growing out into long filaments and twisted spirals. The 



FIG. 114 



> > ' *** 



Bacillus pyocyaneus. (From Kolle and Wassermann.) 



bacillus is actively motile, a single flagellum being attached to one 

 end. Does not form spores. Stains with the ordinary aniline colors ; 

 does not stain with Gram's solution. 



Biology. An aerobic, liquefying, motile bacillus. Capable also of 

 an anaerobic existence, but then produces no pigment. Grows readily 

 on all artificial culture media at the room temperature, though best 

 at 37 C., and gives to some of them a bright-green color in the pres- 

 ence of oxygen. In gelatin-plate cultures the colonies are rapidly de- 

 veloped, imparting to the medium a fluorescent green color; liquefac- 

 tion begins at the end of two or three days, and by the fifth day the 



