PATHOGENIC ANAEROBIC BACILLI. 



541 



187. BACILLUS CADAVERIS. 



Obtained by the writer (1889) from pieces of liver and kidney, from yel- 

 low-fever cadavers, which had been preserved for forty-eight hours in an 

 antiseptic wrapping, at the summer temperature of Havana; also in two 



FIG. 167. Bacillus cadaveris; smear preparation from liver of yellow-fever cadaver, kept 

 twenty-four hours in an antiseptic wrapping, x 1,000. From a photomicrograph. (Sternberg.) 



cases from pieces of yellow-fever liver immediately after the autopsy ; also 

 from liver preserved in an antiseptic wrapping from comparative autopsies 

 made in Baltimore. 



Morphology. Large bacilli with square or slightly rounded corners, 

 from 1.5 to 4 i* in length and about 1.2 u. broad; frequently associated in 

 pairs ; may grow out into straight or 

 slightly curved filaments of from 5 

 to 15 >u in length. 



Biological Characters. AIL an- 

 aerobic, non-motile bacillus; not 

 cultivated in nutrient gelatin; not 

 observed to form spores. 



Bacillus cadaveris is a strict anae- 

 robic and is difficult to cultivate. I 

 have succeeded best with nutrient 

 agar containing five per cent of 

 glycerin, removing the oxygen 

 thoroughly by passing a stream of 

 hydrogen through the liquefied me- 

 dium. The colonies in a glycerin- 

 agar roll tube (containing hydrogen 

 and hermetically sealed) are opaque, 

 irregular in outline, granular, and of 

 a white color by reflected light. 

 The culture medium acquires an 

 acid reaction as a result of the de- 

 velopment of the bacillus. 



Liver tissue containing- this bacillus, after having been kept in an anti- 

 septic wrapping for forty-eight hours, has a fresh appearance, a very acid re- 

 action, and is without any putrefactive odor. 



FIG. 168. Bacillus cadaveris, from an anae- 

 robic culture in glycerin-agar. x 1,000. From 

 a photomicrograph. (Sternberg.) 



