SUPPURA TION. 273 



In spite of the small number of cases studied, they 

 were of the opinion that their coccus is the specific one. 

 It is about 1 fi in size and resembles the gonococcus, 

 though it is smaller. The cocci generally lie in the 

 cells, sometimes 8 or 10 in one pus cell, and are occasion- 

 ally distributed throughout the pus in long chains or 

 strings. They stain readily with the usual anilin dyes, 

 especially with Loftier' s methylene-blue, and can be 

 decolorized by the Gram method. They grow slowly 

 upon the ordinary media, forming living, transparent, 

 dew-like points on agar-agar. These little drops do not 

 coalesce. In peptone-bouillon they form white, rather 

 granular than flocculent deposit, the bouillon itself re- 

 maining clear. The growth is said to be more rapid in 

 strongly than feebly alkaline media. The cocci are said 

 to grow upon ascites-fluid and upon milk, the latter coag- 

 ulating in the course of forty-eight hours. They are 

 capable of slight movement. Numerous inoculation ex- 

 periments were made, only one animal, a white mouse, 

 succumbing. Control-experiments failed to disclose the 

 same organisms in the healthy human parotid or its se- 

 cretion. 



All the observers agree in finding in the secretions of 

 the gland and in the blood diplococci that grow slowly, 

 produce small colonies, and coagulate milk. No one has 

 shown their specificity by inoculation, evidence of course 

 necessary before the claim of real importance can be 

 accepted. 



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