PATHOGENIC SPIRILLA. 509 



recovered ; but the genuine nature of the attack was shown by the 

 symptoms and by the abundant presence of the " comma bacillus" 

 in the colorless, watery discharges from his bowels. Nicati and 

 Kietsch observed a certain degree of attenuation in the pathogenic 

 power of the spirillum after it had been cultivated for a considerable 

 time at 20 to 25 C. ; and the observation has since been made that 

 cultures which have been kept up from Koch's original stock have 

 no longer the primitive pathogenic potency. 



Cunningham, as a result of recent researches made in Calcutta 

 (1891), arrives at the conclusion that Koch's " comma bacillus" can- 

 not be accepted as the specific etiological agent in this disease. This 

 conclusion is based upon the results of his own bacteriological 

 studies, which may be summed up as follows : First, in many un- 

 doubted cases of cholera he has failed to find comma bacilli. Sec- 

 ond, in one case he found three different species. Third, in one case 

 the reaction with acids could not be obtained. From sixteen cases 

 in which Cunningham made cultures he obtained ten different vari- 

 eties of comma bacilli, the characters of which he gives in his pub- 

 lished report. It may be that in India, which appears to be the 

 permanent habitat of the cholera spirillum, many varieties of this 

 microorganism exist ; but extended researches made in the laborato- 

 ries of Europe show that Cunningham is mistaken in supposing that 

 spirilla resembling Koch's " comma bacillus " are commonly present 

 in the intestine of healthy persons. The view advocated is that 

 during the attack these spirilla are found in increased numbers be- 

 cause conditions are more favorable for their development, but that 

 they have no etiological import. The writer would remark that, in 

 very extended researches made in the United States and in Cuba, he 

 has never found any microorganism resembling Koch's cholera spi- 

 rillum in the faeces of patients with yellow fever or of healthy indi- 

 viduals, or in the intestinal contents of yellow-fever cadavers. 



156. SPIRILLUM OF FINKLER AND PRIOR. 



Synonym. Vibrio proteus. 



Obtained by Finkler and Prior (1884) from the faeces of patients with 

 cholera nostras, after allowing the dejecta to stand for some days. Subse- 

 quent researches have not sustained the view that this spirillum is the speci- 

 fic cause of cholera morbus. 



Morphology. Resembles the spirillum of Asiatic cholera, but the curved 

 segments (" bacilli" ) are somewhat longer and thicker and not so uniform 

 in diameter, the central portion being usually thicker than the somewhat 

 pointed ends ; forms spiral filaments, which are not as numerous, and are 

 usually shorter than those formed by the cholera spirillum. In unfavorable 

 media involution forms are common large oval, spherical, or spindle- 

 shaped cells, etc. Has a single flagellum at one end of the curved segments, 

 which is from one to one and one-half times as long as these. 



Stains with the usual aniline colors best with an aqueous solution of 

 fuchsin. 



44 



