MUCOSUS CAPSULATUS GROUP 185 



lying singly, but when in the body are commonly 

 united in pairs or short chains about which one may 

 find the capsule. We may find the capsule in milk or 

 gelatin cultures. They are easily stained by ordinary 

 dyes. They grow well, best at body temperature, but 

 also as low as 12 C. or 54 F., or as high as 41 C. or 

 106 F. They are killed at 56 C. or 133 F. in ten 

 minutes. They resist drying quite well. Freezing is 

 rather rapidly fatal to them. They grow best in the 

 presence of oxygen, but may live without it. All the 

 artificial cultivations of this group are characterized 

 by luxuriance, with a tendency to a slimy, smeary, or 

 tenacious consistency, hence the name "mucosus." 

 None of the group can soften gelatin or make indol. 

 They all produce some degree of acidity in milk, but 

 not all can curdle it. The various members behave 

 very differently in regard to sugars, and upon these 

 reactions they are classified. 



The poison produced by the bacteria of this group 

 is probably all endotoxic. They irritate the part 

 also mechanically by their presence. These bacilli 

 are widely distributed in animal life, but less so other- 

 wise in nature. They are transmitted directly from 

 man to man, by particles of saliva or sputum or in 

 fecal discharges, or in pus, which should be disinfected 

 as given for the colon bacillus. Besides the special 

 conditions to be mentioned later, members of this 

 group have been known to cause py el it is, gastro- 

 enteritis, peritonitis, pleuritis, and septicemia. 



The most important member of the group is the 

 Bacterium pneumonice of Friedlander, a cause of 

 pneumonia next to the pneumococcus in importance 



