THE SPIRILLA 155 



Cholera-like Vibrios. 



Finkler-Prior Spirillum. ^Etiological significance un- 

 certain. Is likely to be confounded with Koch's comma. 

 It is occasionally found in the stools in English cholera 

 (cholera nostras), cholera infantum, etc. The vibrio is 

 rather thicker and longer than the Koch's comma, and 

 has the following cultural characters: In gelatin stab 

 culture liquefaction is rapid, extending in shape of a 

 funnel to the bottom of the stab within forty-eight hours. 

 On potato at 22 C. there is a slightly yellowish growth, 

 and at 37 C. a rapid, slimy, yellow growth. Grown in 

 peptone-water, a feeble indole reaction may be obtained 

 after three days. A vibrio having very similar characters 

 has been found in decaying teeth (Miller's Spirillum). 



From cases of true cholera spirilla have been cultivated 

 that closely resemble Koch's comma, yet differ slightly 

 in cultural and other characters. Therefore ' Koch's 

 comma ' may be taken to be an organism with variable 

 attributes, or more probably a group of organisms all 

 capable of producing cholera, but not all exactly similar 

 in character. 



Sanarelli has isolated no less than thirty-two vibrios 

 from water, morphologically distinct from each other, all 

 of which gave a distinct indole reaction. Four of these 

 organisms he found to be extremely pathogenic to 

 animals, producing symptoms in guinea-pigs indistin- 

 guishable from those given by the true cholera spirillum. 



Spirillum Metchnikovi. This organism, which is patho- 

 genic for fowls, pigeons, and guinea-pigs, but non- 

 pathogenic for mice, closely resembles the cholera spiril- 

 lum in morphological and cultural characters, even giving 

 the indole reaction on the addition of sulphuric acid 

 alone. The growth on gelatin affords a means of distinc- 

 tion from the cholera spirillum. On gelatin plates small 

 white colonies form, which produce cup-like depressions 

 on liquefaction in two or three days. In a gelatin stab 

 liquefaction is more rapid than with the cholera spirillum, 

 and takes place in the form of a funnel-like tube. It is 

 more pathogenic for guinea-pigs than the cholera spirillum, 

 and can be distinguished from the latter by the readiness 

 with which pigeons succumb to septicaemia after inocula- 

 tion, and by fatal results from feeding to fowls. 



