GONOCOCCUS. 551 



the healthy nasal fossae. According to Ghon, 

 Pfeiffer and Sederl, "Micrococcus catarrlialis, 

 without the association of other microbes, is able 

 to cause bronchitis and pneumonia with the clini- 

 cal type of pneumonia due to the pneumococcus. 

 The symptoms caused by the Micrococcus catarrh- 

 alis do not form a clinical type. They resemble 

 infections by the pneumococcus or the bacillus of 

 Pfeiffer (Influenza)" (cited by Bezancon and de 

 Jong). Others are not so positive concerning the 

 pathogenic properties of the organism. Its etio- 

 logic role is not yet well established. It has little 

 pathogenicity for animals, although peritoneal and 

 pleural infection is possible in guinea-pigs. 



It differs from the gonococcus and meningococ- 

 cus in certain cultural characters. 



V. GONORRHEA AND OTHER INFECTIONS WITH THE 

 GONOCOCCUS. 



A. Neisser discovered the gonococcus in 1879, The Gono- 

 cultivated it in 1884, and demonstrated its specific 

 relation to gonorrhea by the inoculation of pure 

 cultures into the human urethra. It is a diplo- 

 coccus, young pairs having a figure-of-eight con- 

 tour, whereas older pairs show a typical biscuit 

 or coffee-bean shape. The organism is non-motile, 

 has no flagella and forms no spores. It can be 

 cultivated only on media which contain serum, 

 ascitic or a similar fluid. Its failure to stain by 

 Gram's method is of great diagnostic importance 

 in the examination of urethral discharges; other 

 organisms resembling the gonococcus are found in 

 the urethra and vagina with great rarity. The 

 reaction loses its differential value in the examina- 

 tion of secretions of the nose, mouth, and, to some 



