CULTIVATION OF THE GONOCOCCUS. 225 



The young colonies are visible within forty-eight hours, and often 

 wkhin twenty-four hours. They appear around the points of 

 inoculation as small semi-transparent discs of irregularly rounded 

 shape, the margin being undulated and sometimes showing small 

 processes. The colonies vary somewhat in size and tend to 

 remain more or less separate. They generally reach their 

 maximum size on the fourth or fifth day, and are usually found 

 to be dead on the ninth day, often much earlier. On the 

 medium of Wertheim the period of active growth and the 

 duration of life are somewhat longer. Even if impurities are 

 present, pure sub-cultures can generally be obtained by the above 

 methods from colonies of the gonococcus which may be lying 

 separate. In the early stage of the disease the organism is 

 present in the male urethra 

 in practically pure condition, 

 and if the meatus of the 

 urethra be sterilised by wash- 

 ing with weak solution of 

 corrosive sublimate and then 

 with absolute alcohol, and 5^. 

 the material for inoculation 

 be expressed from the deeper 

 part of the urethra, cultures , -^ 



may often be obtained which " . 



are pure from the first. By * * * . " 



successive sub-cultures at 



Short intervals, growth may FlG.86.-Gonococci, from a pure culture 



' J on blood agar ot twenty-four hours' growth. 



be maintained indefinitely, Some already are beginning to show the swollen 

 and the organism gradually appearance common in older cultures. 



Stained with carbol-thionm-blue. X 1000. 



flourishes more luxuriantly. 



In culture the organisms have similar microscopic characters to 

 those described (Fig. 86), but show a remarkable tendency to 

 undergo degeneration, becoming swollen and of various sizes, 

 and staining very irregularly. Degenerated forms are seen 

 even on the second day, whilst in a culture four or five days 

 old comparatively few normal cocci may be found. The less 

 suitable the medium the more rapidly does degeneration take 

 place. 



On ordinary agar and on glycerin agar growth does not take 

 place, or is so slight that these media are quite unsuitable for 

 Q 



