418 



SPIRILLUM CHOLERA ASIATICS, 



Difficulties of 

 their demon- 

 stration in 

 sections. 



Demonstra- 

 tion by 

 cultivation. 



Constant 

 presence of 

 comma bacilli 

 in all cases of 

 cholera. 



which are stained in a similar manner. An additional 

 difficulty is caused by the fact that the bacilli only 

 rarely lie in the same plane, and seldom show the 

 "comma" form distinctly; as a rule the curve is 

 directed more or less upwards or downwards, or the 

 comma may stand almost vertical ; in all these cases a 

 form results which differs markedly from that of the 

 comma bacilli in cover glass preparations, where they 

 are as a rule lying horizontally in one plane. Hence 

 isolated comma bacilli cannot be recognised in the 

 tissue with certainty; but where small groups are 

 present there are usually some which show a distinct 

 comma form, and which thus lead us to a correct con- 

 clusion as to the other individuals which are less favour- 

 ably placed. If these difficulties are borne in mind, the 

 comma bacilli can be demonstrated in the intestinal 

 mucous membrane with complete certainty. 



Much better than the microscopical examination for 

 the demonstration of the comma bacilli is the method 

 by cultivation, which, in fact, never fails for the dis- 

 covery of other bacteria also, such as typhoid bacilli, 

 even when a large number of microscopical specimens 

 have failed to show any organisms. The cultivation is 

 made in the usual manner by introducing a small 

 mucous flake from the dejecta, or from the soiled linen, 

 into a vessel containing liquefied gelatine (5 or 10 per 

 cent.) ; from the original vessel two dilutions are usually 

 made ; the contents of all the three vessels are then 

 poured out on glass plates, and after 24, or at most 48 

 hours, characteristic colonies appear, which are so typical 

 that the diagnosis of the presence or absence of the 

 comma bacilli can be made with certainty. 



By the aid of these methods it has been demonstrated 

 that the comma bacilli are constantly present in every 

 distinct case of Asiatic cholera, and also that they are 

 only found in this disease, and never under normal con- 

 ditions nor in the case of any other disease. Koch has 

 investigated the dejecta or the intestinal contents in 

 about 100 cases of cholera in Egypt, India, and 

 Toulon ; Nicati and Rietsch have investigated 31 cases 



