CHAPTER III. 

 DIPHTHERIA* 



BACILLUS DIPHTHERIA 



General Characteristics. A non-motile, non-flagellate, non-spor- 

 ogenous, non-chromogenic, non-liquefying, aerobic, purely parasitic, 

 pathogenic, toxicogenic bacillus, cultivable upon the ordinary culture 

 media, staining by the ordinary methods and by Gram's method. 



In 1883 Klebs * demonstrated the presence of a bacillus 

 in the pseudo-membranes upon the fauces of patients 



Fig 122. Bacillus diphtheriae, from a culture upon blood-serum. 

 X 1000 (Frankel and Pfeiffer). 



suffering from diphtheria, but it was not until 1884 that 

 Loffler f succeeded in isolating and cultivating it. The 

 organism is now known by both their names, and called the 

 Klebs-Lofner bacillus. 



Morphology. The bacillus is about the length of the 

 tubercle bacillus (1.5-3.5 p), but about twice its diameter 

 (0.4-1.0 //), has a slight curve similar to that which char- 

 acterizes the tubercle bacillus, and has rounded and usually 

 clubbed ends (Fig. 122). It does not form chains, though 

 two, three, and rarely four individuals may be found con- 



* " Verhandlungen des Congresses fur innere Med.," 1883. 

 t " Mittheilungen aus dem kaiserlichen Gesundheitsamt," 2. 

 418 



