SUPPURA TION. 201 



MICROCOCCUS GONORRHCM;. 



All authorities now accept the "gonococcus" to be 

 the cause of gonorrhea. It was first observed in the 

 urethral and conjunctival secretions of gonorrhea and 

 purulent ophthalmia by Neisser in 1879. The organisms 

 are of hemispherical shape, arranged in pairs, so that 

 the inner surfaces are separated from each other by a 

 narrow interval. Sometimes, instead of pairs of cocci, 

 fours are seen, the group no doubt resulting from the 

 division of a pair. 



<% A>^ 

 jf - i 



/SO*,*. ^*n 



-r- * * -a?-/^'- -. " 



^^ ^1 y ", >N **^ **flm ^^ 



r^ 1 ^ V"-s *jt-**fy- 



IJ^ 1 :".>* 



'*r v 



jfc 



FIG. 58. Gonococcus in urethral pus ; x 1000 (Frankel and Pfeiffer). 



The described hemispherical shape is not exactly cor- 

 rect, for a good lens generally shows the approximated 

 surfaces to be somewhat concave rather than flat. The 

 Germans see in the organism a resemblance to their pop- 

 ular biscuit called a "semmel." 



The gonococcus is small, is not motile, like other cocci, 

 is not provided with flagella, and does not have spores. 

 It stains readily with all the aqueous anilin dyes best 

 with rather weak solutions but not by Gram's method. 

 It can be found in the urethral discharges of gonorrhea 

 from the beginning until the end of the disease, though 

 in the later days its numbers maybe outweighed by other 



