192 



GONORRHOEA, SOFT SORE, SYPHILIS. 



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expressed from the deeper part of the urethra, cultures 

 may often be obtained which are pure from the first. 

 By successive sub-cultures at short intervals, growth may 

 be maintained indefinitely, and the organism gradually 



flourishes more luxuri- 

 antly. In culture the 

 organisms have similar 

 microscopic characters 

 to those described 

 (Fig. 55), but show a 

 remarkable tendency 

 to undergo degenera- 

 tion, becoming swollen 

 and of various sizes, 

 and staining very 

 irregularly. Degener- 

 atec [ f orms are seen 



. 

 * even on the second 



FIG. 5 5.-Gonococci ( from a pure culture ^ whil f in J cultur f 



on blood agar of twenty-four hours' growth, four Or five days old 



vSome already are beginning to show the comparatively few nor- 

 swollen appearance common in older cultures. , mflv he found 



Stained with carbol-thionin-blue. x 1000. ' 



The less suitable the 

 medium the more rapidly does degeneration take place. 



On ordinary agar and on glycerine agar growth does 

 not take place, or is so slight that these media are quite 

 unsuitable for purposes of culture. The organism does not 

 grow on gelatine, 1 potato, etc. 



Plate- Cultures. The following ingenious method of plate-culture 

 was introduced by Wertheim for the culture of the gonococcus. The 

 medium of culture is a mixture of human blood serum and of ordinary 

 agar (2 per cent) in equal parts. The serum, in a fluid and sterile 

 condition, is put in suitable quantities into two or three test tubes 

 and brought to a temperature of 40 C. These are then successively 



1 Turro has announced that he has cultivated the gonococcus on acid 

 gelatine, i.e., ordinary peptone-gelatine which has not been neutralised. 

 We have failed to obtain any growth of the gonococcus on this medium, 

 even when inoculation was made from a vigorous growth on blood agar.. 



