CHAPTER II. 

 TYPHOID FEVER. 



Bacillus Typhosus (Eberth^Gaffky 2 ). 



The bacillus of typhoid fever {Bacillus typhi abdomi- 

 nalis [Fig. no] or Bacillus typhosus) was discovered by 

 Eberth and Koch 3 in 1880, and was first secured in 



Pig. iio. — Bacillus typhi abdominalis, from a twenty-four-hours-old agar-agar 

 culture; x 650 (Heim). 



pure culture from the spleen and affected lymphatic 

 glands by Gaffky four years later. 



The organism is a small, short bacillus about 1-3 a 

 (2-4//- Chantemesse, Widal) in length and 0.5-0.8/* broad 

 (Sternberg). The ends are rounded, and it is rather ex- 

 ceptional for the bacilli to be united in chains, though 

 this arrangement is common in potato cultures. The 

 size and morphology vary distinctly with the nature of 

 the culture-medium and the age of the culture. Thoinot 

 and Masselin 4 in describing these morphological peculi- 



1 Virchow's Archiv, 1881 and 1883. 

 ' Mittheilungen aus dem Kaiserl. Gesundheitsamts, 2. 

 3 Ibid., I, 45. * Prtcis de Microbie, Paris, 1893. 



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