392 



PYOGENIC BACTERIA. 



other and separated by a cleft, and some of these correspond in their 

 morphology, in every detail, with the gonococcus." 



Stains quickly with the basic aniline colors, especially with 

 methyl violet, gentian violet, and fuchsin ; not so quickly with 

 methylene blue, which is, however, one of the most satisfactory 

 staining agents for demonstrating its presence in pus. Beautiful 

 double-stained preparations may be made from gonorrhoeal pus, 

 spread upon a cover glass and " fixed/' secundum art em, by the use 

 of methylene blue and eosin. Does not stain by Gram's method 

 i.e., the cocci are decolorized, after having been stained with an ani- 

 line color, by being immersed in the iodine solution employed in 

 Gram's method of staining. But this character cannot be depended 

 upon alone for establishing the diagnosis, for Bumm has shown that 



Fia. 86." Gonococcus " in gonorrhoeal pus. From a photomicrograph by Frankel and Pfeiffer. 

 X 1,000. 



other diplococci are occasionally found in gonorrhoeal pus which do 

 not stain by this method. It serves to distinguish them, however, from 

 the common pus cocci heretofore described Staphylococcus aureus, 

 Staphylococcus albus, Staphylococcus citreus which retain their 

 color when treated in the same way. A more trustworthy diagnostic 

 character is that these biscuit-shaped diplococci are found within the 

 pus cells, sometimes one or two pairs only, but more frequently in 

 considerable numbers, and occasionally in such numbers as to com- 

 pletely fill the cell. No similar picture is presented by pus from any 

 other source, with the exception of that from a form of " puerperal 

 cystitis " which Bumm has described. But in this the diplococci 

 contained in the pus cells were to be distinguished by the fact that 

 they retained their color when treated by Gram's method. Owing 



