BACTERIUM CHOLERA SUUM. 253 



105). Bacillus choleroe suum Migula. Recently the 

 disease is often spoken of in Germany as ' ' Schweinepest ' ' 

 or ' ' American Schweineseuche. ' ' l 



Principal Literature. Raccuglia (C. B. VIII, 289) ; Th. Smith (C. B. 

 ix, 253; xvi, 231) ; Silberschmidt (A. P. ix, 65) ; Voges (Z. H. 

 xxin, 149) ; Karlinski (Z. H. xxvni, 373). 



This organism is not different morphologically from the 

 Bact. coli. Microscopically and microscopically (multi- 

 ple, long, peritrichous flagella) , it furnishes a typical form 

 of the Bact. coli. 



The following biologic peculiarities, which are confirmed 

 by. our study of a culture from Rubner's Institute, serve 

 to differentiate the organims: 



1. From milk-sugar it forms neither acid nor gas, and 

 inoculated milk is not coagulated, and does not become 

 acid, but alkaline. 



2. The gas produced from grape-sugar is one-third C0 2 , 

 two- thirds H 2 . (The Bact. coli yielded us similar propor- 

 tions.) According to Smith, one-half CO 2 and one-half 

 H 2 . 



3. Does not produce either indol or phenol. 



The cultures studied by us were always motile. 2 Ferrier (Lyon 

 Medical, 1894, No. 40) found the hog cholera, after being cultivated 

 for five months upon agar, to present short, very actively motile rods, 

 with multiple flagella, 35 // to 55 ft long. The micro-organisms 1 / long 

 had the appearance of spindles. After passage through an animal 

 several times, the rods were longer, the cilia fewer and shorter. 



Pathogenic Significance. The organism causes de- 

 structive swine plague in northern countries, such as 

 America; recently .also in England, and for about five 

 years in Germany (Graffunder, Deupser, C. B. xvn, 49); 



1 Voges and Proskauer, in their latest publication (Z. H. xxvni, 

 20), designate a form as " schweinepest " which ferments all varieties 

 of sugar, and so corresponds to the type of Bact. coli. However, with 

 the addition of caustic potash to fermenting sugar bouillon, in twenty- 

 four hours, with the admission of air, a red, fluorescent, eosin-like 

 color appears. This color occurs with none of the cultures of Amer- 

 ican hog cholera, and Voges then also states that in Germany he has 

 so far seen only swine plague (''Schweineseuche"), and no hog 

 cholera. We have found nothing concerning this motile, special 

 "Schweinepest " bacterium in other authors. 



2 Th. Smith has described a non-motile form (without flagella) 

 (C. B: xxv, 241). 



