346 



THE BACILLUS OF TYPHOID FEVER. 



46. BACILLUS TYPHI ABDOMINALIS. 



Synonyms. Bacillus typhosus ; Typhus bacillus. 



Eberth (1880 and 1881) demonstrated the presence of this bacillus 

 in the spleen and diseased glands of the intestine in typhoid cada- 

 vers. Gaffky (1884) first obtained it in pure cultures from the same 

 source and determined its principal biological characters. 



It is found, in the form of small, scattered colonies, in the spleen, 

 the liver, the glands of the mesentery, the diseased intestinal glands, 

 and in smaller numbers in the kidneys, in fatal cases of typhoid fever; 

 it has also been obtained, by puncture, from the spleen during life, 

 from the alvine discharges of the sick, and rarely from the urine. 

 It is not found in the blood of the general circulation, unless, pos- 

 sibly, in rare cases and in small numbers. 



FIG. 108. FIG. 109. 



FIG. 108. Bacillus typhi abdomlnalis, from single gelatin colony. X 1,000. From a photo- 

 micrograph. (FrankelandPfeiffer.) 



FIG. 109 Bacillus typhi abdominalis, from single gelatin colony. X 1,000. From a photo- 

 micrograph. (Sternberg.) 



Morphology. Bacilli, usually one to three /* in length and about 

 0.5 to 0.8 yw broad, with rounded ends ; may also grow out into long 

 threads, especially upon the surface of cooked potato. The dimen- 

 sions of the rods differ considerably in different media. Spherical or 

 oval refractive granules are often seen at the extremities of the rods, 

 especially in potato cultures kept in the incubating oven ; these are 

 not reproductive spores, as was at first supposed. The bacilli have 

 numerous flagella arranged around the periphery of the cells usually 

 from five to twenty, but many short rods have but a single 



a paper read by the writer at the annual meeting of the Association of American 

 Physicians, Washington, D. C., June 18th, 1886. 



