﻿442 ASHBURN AND CRAIG. 



He was not aware of Castellani's discovery at the time. July, 1905. so that his 

 observations amount to an independent discovery of Treponema pertenuis, 

 although the organism was first seen and described by Castellani. In a sup- 

 plementary note regarding the spirochcetw found in yaws. Wellman says (14): 

 "It is significant that this observation which has been spoken of as one of the 

 most important discoveries of recent times, considering the fact that the Spiro- 

 ehceta pallida has been found by Schaudinn in syphilis; and considering the 

 relation said to exist between yaws and syphilis (15) should have been made 

 almost simultaneously in two such widely separated countries as Ceylon and 

 ^Yest Africa." 



Further confirmations of the presence of Treponema perienuis Castellani in 

 the lesions of yaws have been published by Powell (16), Borne (17) and Mae- 

 Lennan(18). Powell and McLennan found the organism in but one case, but 

 Borne encountered the treponema in nine of eleven cases examined, and the latter 

 wrote Castellani ( 19) that he had found them in forty-nine out of fifty-nine cases. 

 Connor (20) was unable to demonstrate Treponema pertenuis in two cases of yaws 

 occurring in Manipur State, India, using Leishman's stain, the method advocated 

 by Castellani. 



Description. — The following resume is compiled from the published descriptions 

 of the organism by Castellani. The treponema were found by him in the serum 

 from the nonulcerated lesions and in smaller numbers in the ulcerated lesions of 

 yaws. 



The majority of the organisms are extremely delicate, though some individuals 

 are thicker and stain more intensely, but all are thinner than "refringens" or other 

 spirochete with the exception of Treponema pallidum Schaudinn. The length 

 varies from a few /i to 18 or 20 or more. Both extremities are often pointed, 

 but forms are met with presenting blunt extremities or one extremity blunt and 

 the other pointed. Barely, one extremity may show a pear-shaped expansion or 

 a loop-like formation. The organisms are spiriliform, the number of waves in 

 the spiral varying, but generally being numerous, uniform, and of small dimen- 

 sions ; sometimes an organism is observed having uniform, narrow waves for a 

 portion of its length, the remainder being almost or quite straight. Two 

 organisms may be attached together end to end, or twisted about one another. 

 Castellani has seen forms indicating longitudinal division, two organisms lying 

 parallel, close together and united at one end ; he has also observed a few 

 chromatoid points scattered irregularly in some organisms. With Leishman's or 

 Giemsa's stain the organism takes a pale, reddish tint. Castellani also found, in 

 very rare instances, a few oval or roundish bodies 5 to 6 ^ in length, and 4 to 

 C p. broad, staining purplish or bluish with Leishman's stain, and containing 

 chromatin, collected at one point or scattered throughout the bodies. He suggests 

 that these bodies may be a developmental stage of the Treponema pertenuis. In 

 the open ulcerative sores of framboesia Castellani found, along with Treponema 

 pertenuis, three varieties of spirochetal as follows: 



1. A thick, easily stained form, identical morphologically with 8. refringens 

 Schaudinn. 



2. A thin, delicate form, with waves varying in size and number, and blunt 

 at both ends. He named this organism <S'. obtusa. 



3. A thin, delicate form, tapering at both ends, which he named S. acuminata. 

 Castellani found Treponema pertenuis present in the lesions of yaws in eleven 



of fourteen cases. Regarding its morphological resemblance and its relation to 

 Treponema pallidum he said in 190fi(21) : 



"The spirochete found in the non-open lesions and some of those found in 

 open sores of yaws are. in my opinion, morphologically identical with the 

 S. pallida of Schaudinn. This is also the opinion of Schaudinn himself who 



