360 TUBERCULOSIS AS A TYPE OF BACTERIAL DISEASE 



properties allied to the B. tuberculosis. The chief characters of most 

 of them are referred to under Tuberculosis, Leprosy, etc., but it will 

 be necessary to describe briefly the character of others. 



(a) Acid-fast Bacilli of Human Origin.— The leprosy bacillus will 

 be described subsequently (see p. 398). 



The smegma bacillus was first discovered by Tavel and Alvarez, 

 in 1885, in the normal preputial smegma, and also in the secretion of 

 the outer skin, particularly where a collection of epithelium may 

 occur, as in the fold of the groin, between the toes, etc. The 

 discovery of the bacillus was incidentally made in investigating an 

 observation of Lustgarten, in 1884, on the syphilis bacillus. 

 Morphologically and tinctorially, the smegma bacillus closely 

 resembles the syphilis bacillus of Lustgarten. This fact discounted 

 the importance attached to Lustgarten's discovery, and subsequent 

 investigations show that Lustgarten's bacillus has not been found in 

 sufficient numbers, or with sufficient constancy, in the syphilitic tissue. 



The smegma bacillus, according to Tavel and Alvarez, is morpho- 

 logically exceedingly like the tubercle bacillus, and can be stained 

 by the same methods. Inoculation experiments on animals were 

 without result, nor were the authors able to obtain a pure culture. 

 Laser and Czaplewski have cultivated (the former from the secretion of 

 syphilitic affections, the latter from gonorrhoeal pus) micro-organisms 

 resistant to acids, similar to diphtheria bacilli, which have 

 been declared by both authors to be identical with the smegma 

 bacillus. Erankel only calls those micro-organisms smegma bacillus 

 which first attracted attention by their great resemblance to tubercle 

 bacilli. This resemblance is wanting in the cultures of Czaplewski 

 and Laser, and in his own cultures, which he described later. In 

 form and other characters they are much more like a pseudo- 

 diphtheritic bacillus. Moeller agrees with Frjinkel. Moeller was 

 not able to get a pathogenic effect in guinea-pigs either with the 

 diphtheroid bacillus cultivated in pure culture from smegma, or with 

 the genuine smegma bacillus containing cutaneous secretion in 

 abundance. In this way the smegma bacillus differs from other 

 acid-fast bacilli. He found human serum the best culture medium 

 for smegma bacillus. The morphology differs according to media, 

 especially in milk cultures. Moeller found the bacillus to be 

 absolutely acid-fast and alcohol-fast, and this property is not much 

 diminished by age or media. The organism is strongly aerobic, and 

 grows slowly. On glycerine agar at 37° C. dull grey-white scales 

 of growth occur, and on potato dull white-grey colonies. Growth is 

 rapid in milk, and the milk is not coagulated. 



With respect to differential diagnosis, especially in reference to 

 urogenital tuberculosis, the smegma bacillus is undoubtedly of great 

 importance. 



