132 THE ACUTE SELF-LIMITED INFECTIONS 



ordinary culture media. It is destroyed at 60 C. or 142 F. 

 in two minutes. It does not affect animals. There is no 

 specific therapy. 



Another form of conjunctivitis chiefly affecting the angles 

 of both eyes and running a subacute course is caused by the 

 bacillus of Morax and Axenfeld. These organisms as seen in 

 smears made best from exudate collecting overnight, appear 

 as short, end-to-end, ovoid rods, each about 12500 inch 

 long. They may be cultivated at body temperature on media 

 containing blood or blood serum. They produce disease by 

 their presence and by some form of toxin little understood. 

 The disease does not affect animals. 



FIG. 41. Koch- Weeks bacillus (pink-eye), third generation. X 1000 

 diameters. (Weeks.) 



Trachoma. This is a subacute and chronic inflammation 

 of the conjunctiva characterized by lumpy elevations on the 

 under surfaces of the lids leading to thickening and distortion 

 and to opacity of the bulbar layer. It has been variously 

 ascribed to protozoa, filterable viruses, and bacilli similar to 

 B. influenza. It is communicable directly or by objects 

 freshly soiled with secretion from the eye or nose; all of 

 these should be disinfected. 



