CHAPTER XXXV 



BACILLUS MUCOSUS CAPSULATUS, BHINOSCLEROMA AND OZ^ENA 

 BACILLUS MUCOSUS CAPSULATUS 



(Bacterium pneumonice, Friedlander's bacillus, Pneumobacillus) 



IN 1882 Friedlander 1 announced the discovery of a micro- 

 organism which he believed to be the incitant of lobar pneumonia 

 and which, in his original communications, he described as a " micro- 

 coccus/' 



A superficial morphological resemblance between Friedlander's 

 microorganism and Diplococcus lanceolatus, now recognized as the 

 most frequent cause of lobar pneumonia, led, at first, to much confu- 

 sion, and it was not until several years later, owing to the careful 

 researches of Frankel 2 and of Weichselbaum, 3 that the "micro- 

 coccus" of Friedlander was recognized as a short, encapsulated 

 bacillus which occurred in lobar pneumonia exceptionally only. 

 Similar bacilli were subsequently found by other observers, bacilli 

 which, upon morphological grounds, are classified together as the 

 "Friedlander group," or the "group of Bacillus mucosus capsulatus." 



Morphology and Staining. The Friedlander bacillus is a short, 

 plump bacillus with rounded ends, subject to great individual varia- 

 tions as to size. Its average measurements are from 0.5 to 1.5 micra 

 in width and 0.6 to 5 micra in length. Forms approaching both 

 extremes may be met with in one and the same culture. The short, 

 thick forms, frequently found in animal and human lesions, are 

 almost coccoid and account for Friedlander's error in first describing 

 the bacillus as a micrococcus. The bacilli may be single, in diplo- 

 form, or in short chains. They are non-motile and possess no flagella. 

 Spores are not formed. 



1 Friedlander, Virohow's Arch., Ixxxvii, 1882; Fort. d. Med., i, 1883; ibid., ii. 

 1884. 



2 Frankel, Zeit. f. klin. Med., x, 1886. 



3 Weichselbaum, Med. Jahrb., Wien, 1886. 



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