Vlli] MICROCOCCI 139 



of micrococci occur in air, in water, in dust, in soil, and in 

 all organic materials in which decomposition occurs, differing 

 from one another in size and in their cultural characters. 

 To the same class belong many of the micrococci found in 

 the normal fluid of the oral cavity and on the surface of the 

 tongue and mucous membrane of the tonsils and pharynx — 

 these are probably derived from the outer air ; similarly in 

 the bronchial and nasal secretions in catarrhal inflamma- 

 tion, on ulcerated surfaces, in the epidermis of the normal 

 skin, in the contents of the large intestine in health and 

 disease. 



Fig. 29. — From the Ease of an Ulcer of the Mucous Membrane of the 

 Larynx in a Child that Died of Acute Scarlatina. 



1. Nuclei and fibres of the tissue. 



2. Zooglosa of micrococci. 



In all cases of diarrhcea the secretions of the bowels swarm 

 with micrococci. In typhoid fever clumps of micrococci 

 may be found very extensively on the ulcerations of the 

 bowels and in the mucous membrane surrounding the 

 ulcerations, and may be even traced into the mesenteric 

 glands and the spleen.^ 



In dead tissues within the living body, such as occur after 

 embolism, and in the case of various infectious maladies, 

 micrococci may be found in colonies, i.e. as zoogloea. 



' Klein, Reports of the Medical Officer, 1876. Letzerich, Sokoloff, 

 Fischel, &c. 



