312 LEPROSY 



acid-fast character in the tissues of animals. When injected 

 into mice and rats it produced, in a certain proportion of cases, 

 lesions which presented the essential features of human leprosy, 

 the bacilli occurring in large numbers within rounded cells. 

 This organism grows very slowly and produces an irregular 

 whitish growth of moist appearance closely resembling that of 

 the avian tubercle bacillus, Bayon has confirmed Kedrowski's 

 results. Clegg grew a small acid-fast bacillus on plain agar 

 medium along with amoebae and symbiotic bacteria, and then 

 by killing the contaminating organisms by means of heat, 

 obtained a pure growth of a chromogenic acid- fast bacillus. 

 Duval following out this work obtained confirmatory results, 

 but in addition to Clegg's bacillus he cultivated a slowly 

 growing non-chromogenic bacillus which only grew on special 

 media (vide infra). This latter he believes to be probably the 

 causal organism. Twort also claims to have cultivated the 

 organism on glycerin egg-medium containing dead tubercle 

 bacilli in the proportion of 1 per cent. Host and Williams have 

 cultivated a pleomorphous organism, a streptothrix, which may 

 appear in the form of bacilli or branched filaments, and both of 

 these forms may be acid-fast or non-acid-fast. Their organism, 

 it is to be noted, however, grows comparatively rapidly, growth 

 being visible within a week, whilst in the case of the organisms 

 of Kedrowski, Duval, and Twort, growth only appears after 

 several weeks. Furthermore, the organisms of Duval and 

 Twort appear only in the bacillary form, whilst those of the 

 other observers mentioned show pleomorphism. Bayon has 

 compared the pathogenic properties of the bacilli cultivated by 

 different workers, and finds that only Kedrowski's bacillus and 

 that cultivated by himself, which he regards as the same 

 organism, produce in animals lesions similar to those of leprosy, 

 the cells in the lesions being stuffed with bacilli, and there 

 appears to be no doubt that in his preparations a multiplication 

 of the organism has taken place. He also finds that only these 

 two strains give a distinct deviation of complement (p. 131) 

 when tested with the serum of leprous patients. There therefore 

 appears to be strong grounds for believing, as Bayon maintains, 

 that Kedrowski's organism is really the leprosy bacillus, but 

 further than this we cannot go at present. 



For a long time attempts to transmit leprosy to the lower 

 animals were unsuccessful. The only exception to this statement 

 is afforded by the experiments of Melcher and Orthmann, who 

 produced nodules in the organs of rabbits after inoculating the 

 anterior chamber of the eye with leprous material, the cells in 



