1 58 AIDS TO BACTERIOLOGY 



common sites. The? disease commences with a swelling 

 (' wen ') that in due course ulcerates with the discharge 

 of pus. In the tongue the growth of fibrous tissue makes 

 it painful, hard, and immobile ('wooden tongue'), the 

 tongue may protrude and ulcerate at its base. There is 

 constant dribbling. The lower jaw-bone and the neck 

 glands are commonly infected, the teeth often falling 

 out from the former. The disease in man corresponds 

 pretty closely to that observed in animals, but there is 

 less tendency to localisation, to the abundant formation of 

 connective tissue, and to the frequency of calcification. 

 The tendency of the disease in man is to become chronic, 

 and it is only by the implication of some vital organ or 

 by the exhaustion following prolonged suppuration that 

 the patient succumbs. The disease spreads by continuity, 

 and no tissue seems able to resist its invasion. Besides 

 this, secondary embolic foci may occur, perhaps the 

 commonest seat being the liver. 



Griffith (Report to L.G.B., New Series, No. 107, 1915), 

 after examining a number of actinomycotic ox-tongues, 

 supports the view that under the term actinomycosis a 

 number of distinct conditions are included. Most of his 

 specimens showed an organism probably identical with 

 the actinobacillus of Lignieres and Spitz. 



If a little of the pus be allowed to run gently down the 

 side of a test-tube, which is then held up to the light, the 

 small yellow grains which will be visible may be picked 

 out, placed on a slide, and pressed down with a cover- 

 glass. It will transmit to the finger a sensation similar to 

 that of squeezing a drop of solid fat, if the granule be 

 taken from man; while if from an animal, the granule 

 may be gritty, from calcareous infiltration. On examining 

 the slide with a low power, a number of ovoid kidney- 

 shaped masses are seen, which with a higher power show 

 the characteristic club-shaped structure. 



Mycetoma, or Madura Disease. 



The foot is generally attacked, occasionally the hand, 

 and rarely other parts. Three varieties are seen. The 

 most common is the white, the black being less frequent, 

 while the red variety is rare. The varieties are named 

 after the colour of the granules occurring in the cavities. 



The white form is produced by the Streptothrix madur<r, 



