276 Gonorrhea 



Heiman * found that the gonococcus grows best in a 

 mixture of i part of pleuritic fluid and 2 parts of 2 per 

 cent. agar. Wright f prefers a mixture of urine, blood- 

 serum, peptone, and agar-agar. 



Laitinen J found agar-agar mixed with one-third to one- 

 half its volume of cyst or ascitic fluid, and bouillon con- 

 taining i per cent, of peptone and 0.5 per cent, of sodium 

 chlorid, mixed with one-third to one-half its volume of 

 cyst or ascitic fluid, very satisfactory. The gonococcus 

 could be kept alive upon these media for two months. 

 Laitinen found that the gonococcus produces acids in the 

 early days of its development, and alkalies subsequently. 

 He was unable to isolate any toxin from the cultures. 



Vital Resistance. The gonococci, though not easily 

 cultivated, are said to resist unfavorable conditions, espe- 

 cially drying, very well. Kratter was able to demonstrate 

 their presence upon washed clothing after six months, and 

 found that they still stained well. 



In artificial culture the gonococcus soon dies, though 

 cultures from different sources differ considerably in this 

 regard. As a rule they survive but a few transplantations, 

 though Young found that one culture had been kept alive 

 by students in his laboratory for more than three months. 



Toxic Products. The toxic metabolic products of the 

 gonococcus appear to be contained within the bodies of the 

 bacteria and disseminated but slightly throughout the 

 culture media. Christmas, Nicolaysen, || and Wasser- 

 mann ** have studied gonotoxin, and have all found that it 

 remains in the bodies of the bacteria. The toxin seems 

 to be quite stable and is not destroyed by temperatures 

 fatal to the cocci. Wassermann obtained some cultures of 

 which o.i c.c. would kill mice; others, of which i.o c.c. 

 was required. The poison can be precipitated with absolute 

 alcohol. Small quantities of the toxin introduced into the 

 urethra cause suppuration at the point of application, fever, 



* "Medical Record," Dec. 19, 1886. 



f "Amer. Jour. Med. Sci.," Feb., 1895. 



t "Centralbl. f. Bakt. u. Parasitenk.," June 1, 1898, vol. xii, No. 20, 

 p. 874. 



"Ann. de 1'Inst. Pasteur," 1897. 



|| " Centralbl. f. Bakt. u. Parasitenk.," 1897, Bd. xxn, Nos. 12 

 and 13, p. 305. 



** " Zeitschrift fur Hygiene," 1898, and "Berliner klin. Wochen- 

 schrift," 1897, No. 32, p. 685. 



