BACILLUS OF LEPROSY 309 



often appear tapered at one or both extremities; occasionally 

 there is slight club-like swelling. Degenerated and partially 

 broken-down forms are also seen. They take up the basic 

 aniline stains more readily than tubercle bacilli, but in order 

 to stain them deeply, a powerful stain, such as carbol-fuchsin, 

 is necessary. When stained, they strongly resist decolorising, 

 though they are more easily decolorised than tubercle bacilli 



iw-v 



FIG. 90. Superficial part of leprous skin ; the cells of the granula- 

 tion tissue appear as dark patches, owing to the deeply stained bacilli 

 in their interior. In the upper part a process of epithelium is seen. 



Paraffin section ; stained with carbol-fuchsin and Bismarck-brown. 

 x500. 



(p. 110); variations, however, exist in this respect, some bacilli 

 losing the stain more readily than others. The bacilli are also 

 readily stained by Gram's method. Regarding the presence of 

 spores, practically nothing is known, though some of the un- 

 stained or stained points may be of this nature. We have, 

 however, no means of testing their powers of resistance. Leprosy 

 bacilli are non-motile. 



Position of the Bacilli. They occur in enormous numbers 

 in the leprous lesions, especially in the tubercular form in fact, 



