138 

 BACILLUS MALLEI. Loftier and Schtitz. (1882). 



BACILLUS OF GLANDERS. MORVE (Fr.) | ROTZ (Germ.} } MALLEUS (.Ld.). 



Origin. Found in the nodules, ulcers, discharges, 

 etc., of glanders or farcy. 



Form. Rods with rounded ends, straight or slightly 

 curved, shorter and thicker than the tubercle bacillus. 

 May grow in pairs or in short threads. 



Motility. Has no motion. 



Sporulatipn. Bright bodies are frequently found 

 in the cells, as in the tubercle bacillus; are considered by 

 Loffler as the first indication of degeneration. Keal spores 

 are said to have been double stained. The bacillus itself 

 is highly .resistant to desiccation. 



Anilin Dyes. Is readily stained and also decolors 

 rapidly. Carbolic-fuchsine, or alkaline anilin gentian 

 violet, or anilin fuchsine stain well, especially when 

 warmed. Not stained by Gram's method. 



Growth. Occurs only at relatively high tempera- 

 tures. Growth is rapid. Glycerine agaris the best medium. 



Plates. Cannot be obtained with gelatin. On glycerine agar at 37 Q C. 

 forms excellent colonies in a day or two. These are round, grayish, and glis- 

 tening in appearance, with granular contents and smooth sharp borders. 



Stich Cultures. Can be made in glycerine agar, not in gelatin. 



Streak Cultures. --O\\ glycerine agar forms a thick, moist, slimy, semi- 

 transparent growth. On potatoes the growth is very characteristic. At first 

 it forms a thin, transparent, honey or amber-colored growth which later be- 

 comes reddish-brown. On blood-serum forms yellowish, transparent spots 

 which eventually fuse together and yield a slimy, whitish growth. 



Bouillon. Grows readily and abundantly. 



Oxygen requirements. Is a facultative anaerobe. 



Temperature. Does not grow below 25 or above 

 42 C. The optimum is about 37 C. 



Behavior to Gelatin. Scarcely any growth. 



Attenuation. Takes place rapidly when grown on 

 artificial media; must therefore be frequently passed 

 through an animal, otherwise the virulence is lost and the 

 organism dies out. Mallein the filtered cultures of the 

 glanders bacillus analogous to tuberculin. 



Immunity. Sm all amounts of bouillon cultures in- 

 jected intravenously into dogs confer immunity. 



Pathogenesis. Man, horse, ass, guinea-pigs, field 

 mice, cats, and goats are highly susceptible. Ordinary 

 and white mice, cattle, and hogs are immune, while dogs, 

 rabbits, and sheep are slightly susceptible. White mice 

 become susceptible when fed with phloridzin. Susceptible 

 animals on inoculation develop typical glanders. In 

 guinea-pigs death results in 4-6-8 weeks. Field mice die 

 in a few days. Enlarged lymphatics, nodules in liver, 

 spleen, etc. Bacilli present. 



Infection. Through wounds inoculation glanders. 

 One instance in man with pure culture. Along the re- 

 spiratory tract probably the usual source of infection in 

 horses. 



