362 BACTERIOLOGY. 



inflammation, pus formation, excessive new formation 

 of connective tissue, abscesses, cavities, and sinuses. 

 Viewed as a whole, the tumor presents points of resem- 

 blance to the osteo-sarcomatous, the scrofulous or tuber- 

 culous, and the cancerous processes. The disease occa- 

 sionally occurs in man, and according to the point of 

 entrance of the parasite may arise in the mouth, the 

 pharynx, the lungs, the intestines, or the skin. In ani- 

 mals the disease is characterized by an excessive new 

 formation of connective tissue, so that tumefaction is 

 always a conspicuous peculiarity. In man, on the other 

 hand, suppuration is the most prominent feature. 



If the purulent discharge from an actinomycotic 

 tumor be examined fresh, it will be found to contain 



Fig. 65. 



Aetinomyoosis fungus in pus. Fresh, unstained preparation. Magnified 

 about 500 diameters. 



tiny yellow (sulphur color as a rule) clumps. If these 

 be examined, unstained, in a drop of physiological salt 

 solution or water under the microscope, they will be found 

 to be made up of a rosette-like mass of closely inter- 

 woven threads. (See Fig. 65.) At the centre the mass 

 may show the presence of spherical, coccus-like bodies 



