150 



BACTERIA 



because it grows in biscuit-shaped pairs; is nearly always within 

 pus cells, and like the gonococcus it is decolorized by Gram's 

 stain. It has no spores or flagella; is not motile; grows in short 

 chains at times, and on ordinary media best at 37C. 



Q 





V 



FIG. 38. Meningococcus in spinal fluid. (From Hiss and Zinsser's Bacteri- 

 ology, Copyright by D. Appleton & Co.) 



Relation to Oxygen. It can be cultivated from the meninges 

 at first best under conditions of low oxygen tension, as in a Novy 

 jar or in an atmosphere of carbon dioxide and moisture; once 

 growing in the laboratory it is more luxuriant in aerobic tubes. 



Vital Resistance. It is killed after ten-minutes' exposure to 



