266 BACTERIOLOGY OF THE EYE 



and should have been obvious in the previous examinations. With- 

 out having demonstrated them in a stained smear, Raehlmann asks 

 whether they are identical with the Miiller bacillus. We know just as 

 little about the relation of these organisms to the saline extract of the 

 follicles as we do of their cultural peculiarities. Information on both 

 of these points is essential for control tests. The nature of the ' Pro- 

 tozoa-like ' bodies which he described is still undetermined. No defi- 

 nite information is obtained from the ultra-microscope with regard 

 to the finest structure of the individual particles ; they are only to be 

 seen as points of light. The rapid movement of the bacilli, as well as 

 of the other bodies, cannot be said to be motility in the ordinary sense 

 of the word. Pfeiffer and Kuhnt deny the possibility that the cause 

 can be in these ultra-microscopical bodies, as an infusion of granula- 

 tions when filtered and inoculated on the healthy conjunctiva will not 

 cause any inflammation. This is not absolutely conclusive, as the 

 immediate transference of trachomatous secretion does not always 

 cause a trachoma (vide infra). The fact that Hess and Romer, with 

 the filtrate of an emulsion, which unfiltered was active, obtained a 

 negative result on apes, is of definite value. Similar inoculations of 

 apes by Bajardi were negative, though with the unfiltered material an 

 inflammatory reaction very like trachoma was produced. Raehlmann 

 does not claim to have definitely proved their causal nature, but he 

 attributes a considerable importance to the bacilli, though that is not 

 even shown to be likely (cf. p. 261). 



The small bacilli which L. Miiller has shown to be present in such 

 a large number of cases, and which resemble the influenza bacillus in 

 every particular, are not the cause of trachoma. They are inconstant 

 in their presence, and in many fresh untreated cases cannot be found. 

 This represents the general opinion of authors who, with every 

 possible assistance, have studied such trachoma cases for years. The 

 fact that C. Frankel and Morax also agree with this view adds to its 

 importance. I have searched in vain for these bacilli in untreated 

 fresh cases of trachoma. A. Knapp and Luerssen also report that 

 they have found them very irregularly in fresh untreated cases, and 

 that their presence bore no relation to the profuseness of the 

 secretion. 



It is specially important to note that Luerssen made three negative 

 inoculations on the human conjunctiva with freshly- grown Miiller's 

 bacilli from such cases. Only a slight transient irritation occurred 

 and no trachoma. Such bacilli have also been found by Zur Nedden, 

 Jundell, and myself in cases which had no resemblance to trachoma. 



