THE AMERICAN 
MONTHLY 
MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 
Wow. V IIT. DECEMBER, 1887. No. 12. 
Spirillum, Finkler and Prior, in hepatized lung-tissue.* 
By THEOBALD SMITH, M. D.. 
WASHINGTON D C. 
The invariable presence of a specific microbe, the so-called comma-bacil- 
lus, in the intestinal tract of cholera patients was first demonstrated by Koch. 
The interest which after the publication of his investigations attached itself 
to forms resembling this comma-bacillus led to the more careful study of two 
other microbes closely resembling this. One, found by Finkler and Prior in 
the stools of patients affected with cholera nostras, gave rise to much discus- 
sion at the time as to the real value and significance of Koch’s discovery. 
Careful observation, however, of the growth of this second form in culture 
media showed well-marked and constant differences between it and Koch’s 
comma-bacillus. Moreover, its presence in cholera nostras has been demon- 
strated in a few instances only, and it has been found by W. D. Miller in a 
tooth cavity and by another observer in the caecum of a man who committed 
suicide.t A third form, found by Deneke in cheese, was likewise differen- 
tiated from Koch’s comma-bacillus by means of cultivation, so that the latter 
still remains to be found in localities other than the intestines and dejecta of 
cholera patients. 
Recently these comma-bacilli have been classed as spirilli. Although there 
may be some doubt as to the strict propriety of this nomenclature, it is cer- 
tainly the best at our disposal, and in this paper they shall be so denominated. 
Several months ago, in examining cultures from hepatized lung-tissue of a 
cow, the result of pleuro-pneumonia, I found in every one ,of twelve tubes 
several kinds of bacteria. Among others, a spirillum was present in almost 
every tube, the close resemblance of which to the spirillum of cholera and to 
the others mentioned above was of sufficient importance to warrant a more 
careful examination. Various media, including nutrient gelatin and agar- ~ 
agar, blood serum and beef infusion had been inoculated by adding a minute 
bit of recently hepatized tissue (red hepatization) to each tube. The various 
microbes, chiefly bacilli, which had multiplied in the cultures after one or 
two days, had, very probably, found their way into the lung-tissue shortly 
before or after death and multiplied there. The heat was very great at the 
time and no special precautions had been taken by those removing the lungs 
from the body to keep foreign bacteria away. The source of the spirillum 
cannot, therefore, be inferred. It may have come from the ice which had 
been placed upon the lungs during transportation. After the rather laborious 
process of isolating it from several liquefying bacilli various culture media 
were inoculated in order to observe its mode of growth. Through the kind- 
*From Medical News Nov., 5, 1887, p. 536. - + Fliigge: Die Mikroérganismen, 2d ed., p. 385. 
