NON-SPORING BACILLI 285 



room temperature. The cultures themselves are, however, 

 similar to those of tubercle bacilli, and of one another. 



Johne's Bacillus is the bacillus of " chronic bovine 

 pseudo-tuberculous enteritis," a disease characterized by 

 corrugated thickenings of the mucous membrane of the 

 small intestine (especially), the bacilli occurring in large 

 numbers in the lesions and in scrapings from the surface. 

 The bacilli are like the tubercle bacilli, but slightly shorter ; 

 they are equally acid-fast. They have not yet been 

 cultivated on artificial media. 



Bacillus Smegmatis (the smegma bacillus) occurs in 

 large numbers in the preputial secretions of the male, the 

 external genitals of the female, and within the folds of the 

 thighs and buttocks. The bacilli are usually found in 

 clumps on the mucous membrane, and occasionally in the 

 superficial layers of the epithelium, both inside and outside 

 the cells. They were first described by Lustgarten in 1884, 

 who found them in a number of syphilitic lesions, and who 

 thereupon believed them to be the cause of that disease. 

 Further work by Alvarez and Tavel, Klemperer, and 

 others, showed that they were harmless saprophytes. 

 They are very similar to the tubercle bacillus, but are 

 more varied in size (usually distinctly shorter), at times 

 slightly curved and short. They are not easily stained, 

 and once stained resist decolorization by acids, but not so 

 strongly as tubercle bacilli. They are said to give up the 

 stain to absolute alcohol, but contradictory statements, 

 are made. On this basis is founded Pappenheim's method 

 of staining, where a film stained with hot carbol-fuchsin 

 is treated with absolute alcohol containing 1 per cent 

 rosolic acid (corallin), methylene-blue to saturation, and 

 16 per cent of glycerin. The tubercle bacilli are red, 

 the bacilli smegmatis blue. They are cultivated with 

 great difficulty, and first on serum or ascitic media. They 

 are non-pathogenic, so far as tested. Their growth on 

 media is slow (five to six days) ; the colonies are yellowish- 

 white, and corrugated like tubercle bacillus colonies. 

 Bacilli of the smegma group have occasionally been 

 demonstrated in sputum and in secretions from the throat 

 and tonsillar crypts. 



Bacillus Leprae. A bacillus closely resembling the 



