BACILLI OF THE COLON-TYPHOID-DYSENTERY GROUP 695 



to consist of severe blood changes (anaemia), and it was spoken -of, for 

 some time, as Infectious Leukaemia of fowls. The organism is a 

 Gram-negative bacillus, non-sporulating and uncapsulated, which 

 differs from other members of the paratyphoid group chiefly in being 

 non-motile and in not producing gas from dextrose. Smith isolated a 

 similar organism from a diseased chicken in Rhode Island in 1894. 

 The organism has been studied since then, particularly by Smith and 

 Ten Broeck, 40 by Rettger and Koser, 41 and by Krumwiede and Kohn. 42 

 To summarize, then, it is a short, Gram-negative bacillus which does not 

 form spores, and does not liquefy gelatin. It does not produce gas in 

 any of the carbohydrate media, but produces acid on glucose, mannite, 

 maltose and xylose. It does not produce indol. An important point 

 is that it produces acid upon rhamnose, an observation made by Krum- 

 wiede and Kohn, and this rhamnose reaction is one which this organism 

 has in common with all other organisms of the paratyphoid-enteritidis 

 group. Krumwiede and Kohn regard the rhamnose fermentation as an 

 essential characteristic, differentiating both the aerogenic and anaero- 

 genic members of this group from B. Typhosus. Smith and Ten 

 Broeck first pointed out the close relationship of fowl typhoid to the 

 group in which we are placing it, and showed that it was closely related 

 to the typhoid bacilli by agglutination and agglutinin absorption. 



B. PULLORUM (RETTGER 43 ) BACILLUS OF WHITE DlARRHEA IN FOWLS. 



This organism, like the one preceding it, has a very close antigenic 

 relationship to B. Typhosus. Unlike B. Sanguinarium, it produces a 

 small amount of gas in dextrose and mannite, though as Smith and 

 Ten Broeck have shown, the gas producing property may be sup- 

 pressed in certain strains, and again resumed on further cultivation. 

 A non-gas producing strain forwarded by them to Krumwiede resumed 

 its ability to produce gas subsequently. Like the preceding, it is 

 non-motile, but B. Pullorum produces no visible changes in media 

 containing maltose, dulcite and dextrin, while B. Sanguinarium produces 

 acid in such media. 



The B. Pullorum is the cause of a spontaneous epidemic disease in 

 young chicks. It is important to note, also, that B. Pullorum like the 

 B. Sanguinarium and other members of the paratyphoid group produces 

 acid on rhamnose (Krumwiede and Kohn). 



40 Smith and Ten Broeck, Jour. Med. Res., 31, 1915, 503 and 523. 



41 Rettger and Koser, Jour. Med. Res., 35, 1916-1917, 443. 



42 Krumwiede and Kohn, Jour. Med. Res., 36, 1917, 509. 



43 Rettger, Jour. Exper. Med., 19, 1914. 



