82 STUDY AND IDENTIFICATION OF BACTERIA 



was to inject guinea-pigs in the subcutaneous tissues of the left chest with i or 2 c.c. 

 of mixed broth culture. In two or three days stiffness of the left forelimb was observed 

 soon becoming quite stiff and extended. The spasm extends to other limbs and 

 death occurs in one or two days. There is no evidence of marked inflammation at 

 the site of inoculation. 



There have been a number of cases of delayed tetanus often asso- 

 ciated with operations done a month or two after the original wound 

 infection so that it is recommended to give antitetanic serum before 

 operation on such cases. 



B. (Edematis Maligni (Pasteur, 1877). This is the vibrion septique 

 of Pasteur. It is found in garden soil and in street sweepings. It is 

 the cause of an acute cellular necrosis attended with serous sanguino- 

 lent exudation and with more or less emphysema. The organism only 

 becomes generalized in the blood about the time of death and post- 

 mortem. Therefore, it is not a septicaemia, as is anthrax. The bacil- 

 lus is an organism about the size of anthrax (*jn by 0.8), but is narrower 

 and does not have the same square cut or dimpled ends. Furthermore, 

 it is motile, Gram-negative and an anaerobe. The guinea-pig is very 

 susceptible, and about the time of death and postmortem there may be 

 seen long flexile motile filaments, 15 to 40^1 long, which move among 

 the blood-cells as a serpent in the grass (Pasteur). 



In cultures it grows out very slightly from the line of stab, giving a jagged granular 

 line, differing from tetanus. Spores form best at 37C. requiring about forty- 

 eight hours. It liquefies gelatin. In examining an exudate from a suspected case- 

 note the presence of spores centrally situated. Inoculate a guinea-pig. Death 

 occurs in about two days. There is intense hemorrhagic emphysematous oedema at 

 the site of inoculation, the cedematous fluid however does not show spores. The 

 bacilli do not appear in the blood until about the time of death and it is an assistance 

 in diagnosis to put the dead body of the guinea-pig in the incubator for a few hours. 

 The subcutaneous tissue contains fluid and gas. There is present the foul odor of 

 an anaerobe. Examine for the long filaments showing flowing motility. Be sure 

 to stain by Gram. (Negative.) For cultures, heat the material (either from a 

 wound or from a guinea-pig) which shows spores to a temperature of 80 C. for 

 from fifteen minutes to one hour. Then inoculate glucose agar stab culture and grow 

 anaerobically. Courmont differentiates anthrax from malignant oedema by in- 

 jecting into ear-vein of rabbit. The injection of malignant oedema in this way, 

 instead of subcutaneously, tends to immunize. 



B. Botulinus (Van Ermengem, 1896). This is the organism which 

 produces botulism, a form of meat poisoning. It is a spore-bearing 

 anaerobe and must not be confused with another organism, a non- 

 sporing aerobic bacillus, associated with meat poisoning the B. 



