730 



PATHOGENIC MICROORGANISMS 



tures of other volatile substances which give rise to a characteristic- 

 ally unpleasant odor, not unlike that of putrefying organic matter. 

 This odor is due largely to H 2 S and methylmercaptan. 



The vegetative forms of the tetanus bacillus are not more re- 

 sistant against heat or chemical agents than the vegetative forms 

 of other microorganisms, Tetanus spores, however, will resist dry 



FIG. 74. YOUNG TET- 

 ANUS CULTURE IN GLU- 

 COSE AGAR, 



FIG. 75. OLDER TET- 

 ANUS CULTURE IN GLU- 

 COSE AGAR. 



heat at 80 C. for about one hour, live steam for about five minutes; 

 five per cent carbolic acid kills them in twelve to fifteen hours; 

 one per cent of bichlorid of mercury in two or three hours. Direct 

 sunlight diminishes their virulence and eventually destroys them. 

 Protected from sunlight and other deleterious influences, tetanus 

 spores may remain viable and virulent for many years. Henri jean 10 

 has reported success in producing tetanus with bacilli from a splinter 

 of wood infected eleven years before. 



10 Henrijean, Ann. de la soc. med. Chir. de Liege, 1891. 



