THE CHOLERA SPIRILLUM AND ALLIED VARIETIES 407 



in the small intestine. In the watery fluid large numbers of spirilla are 

 found. A few drops of a pure culture inoculated subcutaneously in 

 pigeons produce septicaemia and cause their death in twelve to twenty- 

 four hours. 



In contradistinction to the pathogenic virulence of these spirilla 

 for pigeons and guinea-pigs, the cholera spirillum is much less patho- 

 genic. Pigeons are not killed by the intramuscular inoculation of pure 

 fresh cultures of the vibrio cholera. The pathogenic action of the 

 vibrio Metchnikoff upon pigeons and guinea-pigs, producing in these 

 animals general septicaemia and death, is, therefore, a characteristic 

 point of difference between this and the spirillum of Asiatic cholera. 



Within recent years numerous other spirilla, the so-called "water 

 vibrios," have been found while looking for the cholera spirillum. 



