BACTERIUM MALLEI 155 



There are numerous other bacteria that stain and are 

 decolorized with difficulty, but these are the impor- 

 tant disease producers. Such an organism, called the 

 Bacterium smegmatis, exists in the smegma about the 

 genitals, and is often a source of confusion when 

 examining for tuberculosis of the urogenital apparatus. 

 It does not produce disease, however. It is possible 

 also to exclude it by a special staining method. Other 

 acid-fast bacteria exist in manure, hay, and butter. 



BACTERIUM MALLEI 



Glanders is chiefly a disease of horses, characterized 

 by nodular growths and ulcers in the upper air passages 

 or diffuse swellings under the skin. In the latter form 

 it is called farcy. The causative organism is the 

 Bacterium mallei or glanders bacillus. Human beings, 

 who are associated with horses or who work in the 

 laboratory with cultures, may contract the disease; 

 usually, however, in the acute form, whereas the lower 

 animals commonly have a protracted attack. The 

 bacteria enter by small cracks or wounds in the mucous 

 membrane of the mouth or nose, and are carried by 

 the lymph or blood to subcutaneous tissues. Whether 

 they produce glanders proper or farcy, they stimulate 

 the tissue to produce nodules not unlike the tubercle, 

 but of more rapid progression. Quite early they 

 break down into abscesses or through the skin as large 

 sloughing ulcers. The poisons are almost entirely endo- 

 toxins, and may be extracted from cultures. A slight 

 amount of resistance is gained by passing through an 

 attack. 



