NOT DESCRIBED IN PREVIOUS SECTIONS. 



the spleen is enlarged, and haemorrhages in the serous membranes are usually 

 seen. 



BACILLUS OF PURPURA H^EMORRHAGICA OF KOLB. 



Obtained by Kolb (1891) from the various organs of three individuals 

 who died in from two to four days from attacks characterized by suddenly 

 developed fever, purpura, and albuminous urine. 



Morphology. Oval bacilli, usually in pairs, 0.8 to 1.5/*long andO.8/* 

 broad, surrounded by a narrow capsule, which is only seen distinctly in. 

 preparations from the organs. 



Stains with the aniline colors, but not deeply, and still more feebly by 

 Gram's method. 



Biological Characters. An aerobic and facultative anaerobic, non- 

 liquefying non-motile bacillus. Does not form spores. Grows in the usual 

 culture media at the room temperature. In gelatin stick cultures, at the end 

 of four days, a very small, thin, hyaline growth is seen about the point of 

 inoculation. The development is more abundant along the line of puncture. 

 Upon the surface of agar a thin layer is formed with smooth margins. 

 Upon potato, at the end of three to four days, a whitish, moist, shining stripe 

 is seen along the impfstrich which is about three millimetres broad. 



Pathogenesis. Injections of 0.5 to 1 cubic centimetre of a bouillon 

 culture into the abdominal cavity of rabbits cause symptoms of general in- 



Fia. 157. FIG. 158. 



Fi. 157. Bacillus gracilis cadaveris, from a gelatin culture. X 1,000. From a photomicro- 

 graph. (Steinberg.) 



FIG. 158. Bacillus gracilis; colonies in gelatin roll tube, end of forty -eight hours. X 12. From 

 a photograph. (Steinberg ) 



fection in the course of a few days, and not infrequently haemorrhagic ex- 

 travasations are seen in the ear muscles. More than one cubic centimetre 

 may cause death in from one to three days. At the autopsy haemorrhagic 

 extravasations are found in the subcutaneous tissues and in the serous and 

 mucous membranes. The blood has little disposition to coagulate; the 

 bacillus may be recovered in pure cultures from the various organs. In 

 guinea-pigs local ecchymoses are sometimes produced, otherwise not patho- 

 genic for this animal. Pathogenic for mice, which die from general infec- 

 tion, after being inoculated with a small quantity of a pure culture, in from 

 two to three days ; spleen enlarged; lymphatic glands often haemorrhagic. 

 Not fatal to dogs, but animals which were inoculated with one cubic centi- 

 metre of a bouillon culture and subsequently killed proved to have haemor- 

 rhagic extravasations in the various organs. 



