SAPROPHYTIC MICROCOCCI. 



231 



or elliptical bodies are enclosed in it, 2070 and more 

 /*. in diameter, consisting of closely aggregated spherical 

 bacteria, and an uncommonly firm scanty intercellular sub- 

 stance (fig. 61). 



It was first ob- 

 served by Billroth 

 on putrid meat in- 

 fusion, then by 

 Cohn on ordinary 

 nutritive solutions ; 

 in the latter it gives 

 rise to a cheesy 

 smell, converts the 

 original acid reac- 

 tion into a markedly 

 alkaline one, and 

 leads to the deve- 

 lopment of consi- 

 derable quantities of 

 ammonia. It develops also on slices of turnip, in the 

 form of a whitish-green slimy mass; in beetroot juice 

 it sets up a viscous fermentation. 



A development of the gelatinous enveloping substance 

 to the degree as yet reckoned as characteristic of asco- 

 coccus has been also observed in various cocci and 

 bacilli (as in Leuconostoc, in Mic. citreus conglom., 

 Clostridium polymyxa, and in various other bacteria not 

 yet isolated pure). It is doubtful whether the produc- 

 tion of this marked gelatinous mass is constantly present 

 in the species mentioned ; at all events, on account of 

 its extensive distribution, it does not appear sufficient of 

 itself to serve as the distinguishing characteristic of an 

 individual species or family. 



Fig 6L _ Ascococcus Billrothii x 65. 



L arge tuberous cell families surrounded 



fc}^ T^ 61 ones ' al ! ? them *? eing em ~ 



bedded in masses of micrococci. 



