MICROCOCCUS GONORRHCEM 375 



In addition to its causal relation to specific urethritis, 

 it is the cause of gonorrheal prostatitis in man, of gonorrheal 

 proctitis in both sexes, and of gonorrheal inflammation of 

 the urethra, of Bartholin's glands, of the cervix uteri, and 

 of the vagina in women and young girls. It is etiologically 

 related to the specific conjunctivitis (ophthalmia neona- 

 torum) of young infants, and also occasionally to ophthalmia 

 in adults. 



Secondarily, it is concerned in specific inflammations of 

 the tubes and ovaries, of the lymphatics communicating 

 with the genitalia, of the serous surfaces of joints, and of 

 those of the heart, lungs, and abdominal cavity. 



Other species of micrococci have from time to time been 

 described as occurring in the pus of acute urethritis and of 

 other purulent inflammations. Many of these are of no 

 significance. Some of them possess peculiarities that might 

 lead to confusion. The diplococcus described by Heiman 1 

 has certain points of resemblance to the gonococcus, such 

 as its location in the ^bodies of pus-cells, its grouping as 

 diplococci, its size and general appearance; but it is still 

 readily distinguished from the gonococcus by its retention 

 of color when treated by Gram's method. The diplococcus 

 detected by Bumm in puerperal cystitis is likewise often 

 found within pus-cells, but it is readily differentiated from 

 the gonococcus by its growth upon ordinary nutrient media. 

 Micrococcus intracellularis of Weichselbaum, isolated 

 from the sero-purulent fluid of the spinal canal in cases of 

 epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis, is microscopically also 

 strikingly like the gonococcus as it is seen in pus; but, 

 unlike the latter organism, may be cultivated by the ordinary 



1 New York Medical Record, June 22, 1895. 



