GONOCOCCUS. 289 



These small, round, or oval bodies are the so-called 

 "gonococci" discovered by Neisser, and more fully 

 studied subsequently by Bumm, to whom we are in- 

 debted for much of our knowledge concerning them. 



As the name implies, this organism is a micrococcus, 



Fig. 58. 



y 





Pus of gonorrhoea, showing diplococci in the bodies of the pus-cells. 



and as it is commonly arranged in pairs (flattened at 

 the surfaces in juxtaposition) it is often designated as 

 diplococcus of gonorrhcea. It is always to be found in 

 gonorrhoeal pus, and often persists in the urethral dis- 

 charges and secretions far into the stage of conva- 

 lescence. It is not present in inflammatory conditions 

 other than those of gonorrhoeal origin. 



It is easily detected microscopically in the secretions 

 of acute gonorrhoea. In secondary lesions and in very 

 old, chronic cases it is difficult of detection and fre- 

 quently eludes all efforts to find it. It is stained by the 

 ordinary methods, but perhaps most satisfactorily with 

 the alkaline solution of methylene-blue. Most impor- 

 tant as a differential test is its failure to stain by the 

 method of Gram. (How does this compare with the 



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