126 AIDS TO BACTERIOLOGY 



no way be connected with death, are not infrequently 

 present in the heart- blood of fowls. There seems little 

 doubt that the organism is identical with the bacillus 

 of rabbit septicaemia, and probably with the so-called 

 bacillus of swine plague. It differs from the similar 

 bacilli isolated from the following diseases in that the 

 latter are not communicable to the fowl: ' grouse disease,' 

 epizootic pneumo-pericarditis in turkeys (McFadyean), and 

 cholera in ducks. It also differs slightly from B. septicus 

 agrigenus, an organism isolated by Nicolaier from manured 

 soil, and from an organism found by Klein in fowl enteritis. 



B. cholerce gallinarum has been described as an infect- 

 ing agent in some cases of gunshot wounds in the head at 

 Alexandria (Bartlett). 



The bacilli of fowl cholera and its allies show very little, 

 if any, multiplication in bile-salt media (MacConkey). 



The Committee of Inquiry on Grouse Disease decided 

 that lesions thought to be due to acute and infective 

 pneumonia in grouse were in many cases nothing more than 

 normal post-mortem changes and therefore dismissed the 

 bacteria isolated from further consideration. 



The undermentioned organisms differ from those 

 previously described in this chapter in retaining the stain 

 by Gram's method. 



The Bacillus of Swine Erysipelas. 



Many cases of swine erysipelas (commonly known as 

 nettle-rash) amount to little more than a passing in- 

 disposition. There is a rise of temperature, more or less 

 shivering and loss of appetite, followed by a patchy red 

 eruption on the skin about the base of the ears, thighs, and 

 body. In severe cases there is vomiting and great 

 prostration, the pigs stagger about, breathe rapidly, 

 and perhaps die in about forty-eight hours. The specific 

 organism is a non-motile, Gram-positive bacillus, with 

 rounded ends, about 2jn long. It is found in the spleen, 

 bone-marrow, and lymphatic glands. 



A vaccine is used, together with an anti-serum for 

 prophylaxis, producing an active immunity lasting about 

 a year. This is largely a seasonal disease, and animals 

 should be immunised before the season of prevalence 

 not later than May. Swine erysipelas is said to be 

 communicable to man, though rarely. 



