444 



BACILLI WHICH PRODUCE SEPTICAEMIA 



threads which are straight or more or less curved and twisted. Small 

 refractive bodies may sometimes be distinguished in the rods, and 

 these have been supposed by some authors to be spores, but this has 

 not been demonstrated. 



This bacillus stains readily with the ordi- 

 nary aniline staining agents and also by Gram's 

 method. 



Biological Characters. A facultative an- 

 aerobic, non-liquefying bacillus. According to 

 Schottelius, the rothlauf bacilli are sometimes 

 motile, but Flugge states that other observers 

 have not seen them in active motion. Frankel 

 says they have the power of voluntary motion. 

 Eisenberg says that the bacillus of mouse septi- 

 ca3ima is motionless, and Frankel says they " seem 

 to be incapable of voluntary motion." Baumgar- 

 ten remarks: "Whether the bacilli exhibit vol- 

 untary movements has not been determined." 

 Although this bacillus is not strictly anaerobic, 

 it grows better in the absence of oxygen than in 

 its presence. Development occurs in various cul- 

 ture media at the room temperature, but is more 

 rapid in the culture oven. In gelatin stick cul- 

 tures no development occurs upon the surface, 

 but the growth along the line of puncture is very 

 characteristic; this consists of a delicate, cloud- 

 like, radiating growth, which extends, in the 

 course of a few days, almost to the walls of the test tube. The 

 rothlauf bacillus does not extend so rapidly through the gelatin, 

 and the branching, cloud-like growth is not as delicate; Flugge 

 compares it to the brush of bristles used for cleansing test tubes. 



Fio. 187. Bacillus of 

 mouse septicaemia; 

 culture in nutrient gela- 

 tin, end of four days at 

 18 C. (Baumgarten.) 



Fio. 138. Bacillus of mouse septicaemia; single colony in nutrient gelatin. X 80. (Flugge.) 



In old cultures in nutrient gelatin a slight softening of the gelatin 

 occurs along the line of growth, and as a result of evaporation and 

 desiccation a funnel-shaped cavity is formed in the culture medium 

 in the course of two or-three weeks. In gelatin plates colonies are 



