598 Transactions of the Society. 



case where no peptone, or only a small amount, is present. This 

 appearance is quite characteristic of this bacillus, and is not seen 

 in the cultivation of any other organism that I know of. The 

 bacilli of anthrax and of mouse septicaemia also spread out from 

 the needle track, but the appearance of their cultivation is quite 

 different. In anthrax delicate threads, not clubbed, shoot out from 

 the track, soon anastomosing with other threads and forming 

 a delicate network througliout the gelatin. In mouse septicaemia 

 the appearance is that of a delicate cloudiness spreading through 

 the gelatin. These foul brood bacilli, growing in this material, 

 render it Hquid after a time, the liquefaction beginning at the 

 surface and only spreading slowly downwards, but ultimately the 

 whole tube becomes liquid. After two or three weeks' growth the 

 appearance presented by the tube is that of a layer of Hquid at the 

 upper part, and the growth along the needle track with the other 

 appearances described at the lower part. The liquid portion is 

 clear except at the bottom of the liquid, where there is a loose white 

 flocculent deposit of bacilli, and on the surface there may be a very 

 thin scum. The liquid becomes yellowish in colour after a time, 

 and gives off an odour of stale, but not ammoniacal urine, or what 

 may be better described as a shrimpy smell. This yellowish colour 

 and the peculiar odour have been found by Mr. Cheshire to be 

 distinctive of the diseased larvae. 



h. If gelatin be poured out on a plate, allowed to solidify, and 

 then stroked with an infected needle, we learn the explanation of 

 the appearances seen in the test-tube cultivations. The bacilli at 

 first grow along the needle track, but very soon they are seen to 

 be collecting at parts forming pointed processes. From the 

 processes the bacilli grow out into the gelatin, often a single series 

 of rods, in Indian file, or two or three rods side by side. These 

 processes are not quite straight, but tend to curve, and at a little 

 distance from the track they grow round so as to form a circle 

 (see figs. 13 and 14c). From this circle, which may be formed of 

 single bacilli, the process continues forming a fresh circle further 

 on. The bacilli in the circle increase in number till ultimately it 

 becomes completely filled up, and we have a nodule consisting of 

 bacilli in the course of the shoot. These shoots may also join one 

 another, forming a curved anastomosis, and the gelatin in the 

 immediate vicinity of the bacilli becoming liquid, a series of channels 

 are formed in the gelatin containing fluid in which the bacilU 

 swim backwards and forwards. Later on, parts of these channels 

 become apparently deserted by the bacilli, so that the circles look 

 to the naked eye as if they were detached from the main track, but 

 with a low power of the Microscope the empty channels can be 

 traced. (See figs. 13 and 14.) 



It is impossible to give a proper idea of the appearances of the 



