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BACILLUS LEPRJE. Hansen. (1879). 



LEPROSY BACILLUS. 



Origin. Found in the leprous nodules of the skin 

 and mucous membrane, lymphatic glands, liver, spleen, 

 marrow, etc. Not in the blood. 



Form. Rather large, narrow rods, which resemble 

 the tubercle bacillus. 



Motility . Non- motile. 



Sporulation. Bright bodies frequently observed 

 within the cell, as is the case of the tubercle bacillus. 

 Doubtful if these are spores. 



Anilin Dyes. Stain readily. Can be stained by 

 Gram's method, also by the method for the tubercle 

 bacillus. Sections kept in alcohol lose the property of 

 double staining. 



Growth. Has not been obtained under artificial 

 conditions with certainty. The cultures of Bordoni- 

 UfFreduzzi on glycerine blood-serum inoculated with the 

 marrow of long bones. Apparently is an obligative para- 

 sitic organism. 



Pathogenesis. While the constant presence of the 

 leprosy bacillus in leprous tissue leads to the prevailing 

 view that it is the cause of that disease, it should never- 

 theless be remembered that as yet unquestioned pure 

 cultures have not been obtained and hence successful in- 

 oculations are impossible. Direct infection with leprosy 

 tissues has given but few positive results. 



Infection. The mode in which this occurs in man 

 is entirely unknown. 



