518 PATHOGENIC AEROBIC BACILLI 



spheres. At the end of forty-eight to sixty hours the superficial colonies ap- 

 pear as round or slightly irregular, grayish- white discs, which project but lit- 

 tle above the surface of the gelatin, and have thin, transparent margins. 

 The deep colonies have a sharply denned contour, with dark-brown centre 

 and a purely granular pale-brown marginal zone. In gelatin stick cult 

 a slightly elevated, moist-looking, sticky layer with more or less transparent 

 margins is developed. In slanting cultures this growth gradually slips down 

 to the lowest part of the exposed surface, leaving a thin, gray, transparent 

 layer over the gelatin ; along the line of puncture a ribbon-like, grayish - 

 wnite growth with irregular margins is developed. In media containing 

 glucose some gas bubbles are developed. The growth is much more rapid 

 in the incubating oven at 37 C., and there is an abundant development of 

 gas in agar tubes. Upon potato a grayish- white, slimy mass with a shining 

 surface is quickly developed. In bouillon, at the end of twenty-four hours, 

 at 37 3 C., the medium is clouded throughout, and a grayish- white deposit ac- 

 cumulates at the bottom of the tube. Development occurs also in acid 

 media. 



Pathogenesis. Pathogenic for house mice, white mice, and for rats not 

 for rabbits or guinea-pigs by subcutaneous injections. As Nicolaier lias 

 made a careful comparison of the characters of the various " capsule bacilli" 

 described, we quote from him as follows : 



"Our bacillus in its morphologv and growth in various media closely re- 

 sembles that of Fasching and of Abel, both of which were obtained in patho- 

 logical products from man. It is distinguished from them by its pathogenic 

 action upon mice. "White and gray mice when infected with our bacillus 

 die from septicaemia and show, in addition to a serous exudation at the point 

 of inoculation, constant pathological changes in the kidneys, which may usu- 

 ally be recognized by a macroscopic examination. Also by the spleen, which 

 is mot always enlarged, and the liver, which only in a few cases showed any 

 microscopic changes. In mice inoculated with the bacillus of Fasching, or 

 that of Abel, which died of septicaemia, there was constantly seen an en- 

 largement of the spleen (Fasching, Abel) and of the liver (Abel), and a 

 cloudy swelling of the liver and kidneys (Abel) which our mice failed to 

 show. The macroscopic and microscopic changes which we found in the 

 kidnevs in mice, and also in some cases in the liver and spleen, were not ob- 

 served by Fasching or by Abel. Recently Paulsen has described a capsule ba- 

 cillus from atrophic rhinitis, and Marchand a capsule bacillus not further 

 described which he obtained in great numbers from the exudate in a case 

 of lobar pneumonia. Both appear to be very similar to Fasching's bacillus. 

 They are pathogenic for mice, but do not cause the changes in the kidneys 

 which we have described. These capsule bacilli are therefore not i dent ieal 

 with ours. Marchand\s bacillus is further distinguished by the fact that it is 

 pathogenic for guinea-pigs. . . . The bacillus of Kockel is distinguished 

 from ours by the following characters : It forms upon the surface of gelatin, 

 as well as in stick cultures, highly elevated, button-like colonies, while our 

 bacillus grows more in flat and broad layers. It also lacks the semi-fluid 

 character of growth upon slanting agar, which distinguishes our bacillus, 

 and as a result of which the growth slips down to the lowest point on the 

 slanting surface ; further it forms upon potato a yellowish layer, while ours 

 is grayish-white ; and it does not grow in acid media. Finally, it is patho- 

 genic for rabbits by intravenous injection, while ours is not." 



103. BACILLUS MUCOSUS OZ^EN^l. 



Obtained by Abel (1893) from cases of o/:-n;i simplex (rhinitis atrophicans 

 fcetida). As this bacillus appears to correspond in its morphological and bio- 

 logical characters with the capsule bacillus a hove described (No. 162) we 

 shall not repeat this dcsei-iption. but quote from Abel, as follows : 



"This bacillus, found in the secretion from cases of ozama, as the de- 



