ZUR NEDDEN'S BACILLUS 509 



may become liquefied. Upon serum agar delicate grayish drop-like 

 colonies are formed which are not unlike those of the gonococcus. 



In ascitic bouillon general clouding occurs within twenty-four 

 hours. 





FIG. 54. MORAX-AXENFELD DIPLO-BACILLUS. 



Pathogenicity. Attempts to produce lesions in the lower animals 

 with this bacillus have been universally unsuccessful. Subacute con- 

 junctivitis, however, has been produced in human beings by inocula- 

 tions with pure cultures. 



ZUR NEDDEN'S BACILLUS 



In ulcerative conditions of the cornea, Zur Nedden has frequently 

 found a bacillus to which he attributes etiological importance. 



The bacillus which he has described is small, usually less than one 

 micron in length, often slightly curved, and generally found singly. 

 It may be found in the diplo form but does not form chains. It is 

 stained by the usual dyes, often staining poorly at the ends. Stained 

 by Gram's method it is decolorized. The bacillus is non-motile. 



Cultivation. It is easily cultivated upon the ordinary laboratory 

 media. Tpon agar it forms, within twenty-four hours, transparent, 

 slightly fluorescent colonies which are round, raised, rather coarsely 

 granular, and show, a tendency to confluence. 



