126 SUPPOSED INSTANCES [CH. ix 



of B. typhosm for example, carbolic acid or creosote 

 made this bacillus in such a medium assume temporarily the 

 form of non-motile cocci or diplococci. Again, Adami, Abbott 

 and Nicholson (1899) obtained from the bile in guineapigs 

 and also from the peritoneal fluid in man, under certain 

 conditions, coccic forms of B. coli. These were present as 

 diplococci or short chains of 3 or 4 cocci ; they were non-motile, 

 non-fermenting and did not produce indol ; their growth on the 

 surface of agar at first closely resembled that of a strepto- 

 coccus, the colonies were white and opaque. Intraperitoneal 

 inoculation into a guineapig increased their fermenting power 

 and, after 3 passages, yielded normal B. coli. They found 

 evidence that B. typhosm yielded similar modified coccic 

 forms when acted on by peritoneal and other fluids. They 

 describe coccic forms of B. typhosm in the mesenteric and 

 retroperitoneal glands. They mention that in some cases the 

 action of ascitic and peritoneal fluids in this respect is so 

 marked that it was difficult to obtain complete reversion to 

 type. They found, also, that B. coli injected into the blood 

 stream in a rabbit appeared in these coccic forms within half 

 an hour in the liver and the bile, though similar forms were 

 not found in the systemic circulation. If the modification in 

 a strain of B. typhosm which Major Horrocks describes was 

 due to the same agency, one can understand why the variant was 

 only found in the peritoneal cavity and not in the heart's 

 blood. In his later experiments, however, cocci possessing the 

 characters of S. faecalis were obtained not only in the 

 peritoneal cavity but during culture on artificial media. In 

 the account of these experiments, however, there is much to 

 suggest that the original strain was not a pure one. 



(f) The change from B. typhosus to B. faecalis alcaligenes 

 after growth in the diluted and filtered urine of a typhoid 

 carrier and the further changes from B. faecalis alcaligenes 

 to B. coli on passage. 



(Page 237, exp. I.) The urine of a typhoid carrier " S " 

 was diluted 1 in 10 with tap water and allowed to stand 11 

 days. It was then filtered through a Pasteur candle (F) with- 

 out pressure and shown to be sterile by "prolonged incubation" 



