488 BACTERIOLOGY. 



tion of sulphuric acid alone. The production of indol 

 by this organism is usually greater than that com- 

 mon to the comma bacillus under the same circum- 

 stances. 



In milk it causes an acid reaction with coagulation of 

 the casein. The coagulated casein collects at the bot- 

 tom of the tube in irregular masses, above which is a 

 layer of clear whey. If blue litmus has been added 

 to the milk, the color is changed to pink in from 

 twenty-four to thirty hours, and after forty-eight hours 

 decolorization and coagulation occur. The clots of 

 casein are not re-dissolved. After about a week the 

 acidity of the milk is at its maximum, and the organ- 

 isms quickly die. 



It causes the red color of the rosolic-acid-peptone 

 solution to become very much deeper after four or five 

 days at 37° C. 



It does not cause fermentation of glucose with pro- 

 duction of gas. 



It is killed in five minutes by a temperature of 50° C. 

 (Sternberg.) 



It is pathogenic for chickens, pigeons, and guinea- 

 pigs. Rabbits and mice are affected only by very large 

 doses. 



Gamaleia states that chickens affected with the chol- 

 eraic gastro-enteritis of which this organism is the cause, 

 are usually seen sitting quietly with ruffled feathers. 

 They suffer from diarrhoea, but there is no elevation 

 of temperature. Hypersemia of the entire gastro-intes- 

 tinal tract is seen at autopsy. The other internal organs 

 do not, as a rule, present anything abnormal to the 

 naked eye. The intestinal canal contains yellowisli 

 fluid witli which blood may be mixed. In adult chickens 



