220 GONORRHCEA, SOFT SORE, SYPHILIS 



cells, but when it becomes purulent the large proportion within 

 leucocytes is a very striking feature. In the leucocytes they lie 

 within the protoplasm, especially superficially, and are often so 



numerous that the leuco- 

 cytes appear to be filled 

 with them, and their nuclei 

 are obscured. As the dis- 

 ease becomes more chronic, 

 the gonococci gradually 

 become diminished in 

 number, though even in 

 long-standing cases they 

 may still be found in con- 

 siderable numbers. They 

 are also present in the 

 purulent secretion of gon- 

 orrhceal conjunctivitis, also 

 in various parts of the 



female genital organs when 

 FIG. 74. Portion of film of gonorrhceal pus, t h ege partg are ^ geat of 



showing the characteristic arrangement , , -, ,. 



of the gonococci within leucocytes. tm f gonorrhoeal infection, 



Stained with fuchsin. x 1000. and they have been found 



in some cases in the second- 

 ary infections of the joints in the disease, as will be described 

 below. 



Staining. The gonococcus stains readily and deeply with a 

 watery solution of any of the basic aniline dyes methylene-blue, 

 fuchsin, etc. It is, however, easily decolorised, and it completely 

 loses the stain by Gram's method an important point in the 

 microscopical examination. 



Cultivation of the Gonococcus. This is attended with some 

 difficulty, as the suitable media and conditions of growth are 

 somewhat restricted. The most suitable media are solidified 

 blood serum (especially human serum and rabbit's serum), 

 "blood agar," and Wertheim's medium, which consists of one 

 part of fluid serum added to two parts of liquefied agar at a 

 temperature of 40 C. and then allowed to solidify by cooling. 

 The serum may be obtained from the blood of the human 

 placenta ; pleuritic or other effusion may also be used. 

 Growth takes place best at the temperature of the body, and 

 ceases altogether at 25 C. Cultures are obtained by taking 

 some pus on the loop of the platinum needle and inoculating 

 one of the media mentioned by leaving minute quantities here 

 and there on the surface. The medium may be used either as 



