144 MICRO-ORGANISMS AND DISEASE [chap. 



occasionally, if the disease lasts a few days, disseminated 

 purulent abscesses are found in some of the viscera. 



2. Staphylococcus pyogenes albics is also often present in 

 purulent matter, particularly of acute abscess, either alone 

 or associated with aureus. The liquescens albus differs from 

 the aureus morphologically and culturally only in this that 

 its growth on Agar possesses no colour, but forms a whitish 

 mass. It liquefies rapidly gelatine, and the liquefied gela- 

 tine is fairly clear or slightly turbid, and at the bottom is a 

 whitish, powdery, granular precipitate consisting of continuous 

 masses of cocci, which in morphological respects cannot be 

 distinguished from aureus. Its pathogenic action on sub- 

 cutaneous injection into animals is the same as in the case 

 of aureus ; also occasionally a general acute infection with 

 lethal end is producible in rodents. 



Both aureus and albus grow rapidly in beef-broth, making 

 it strongly and uniformly turbid with a powdery and 

 flocculent granular precipitate. 



The enormous rapidity with which staphylococcus aureus 

 is able to grow at 37° C. has been detailed in a former 

 chapter. 



3. Occasionally in purulent and acute inflammatory foci is 

 found a coccus which forms a distinctly white growth on 

 Agar and oh gelatine, and does not liquefy gelatine ; this 

 is the staphylococcus albus non-liquescens. A variety of this 

 forms flat, white, rapidly spreading dry colonies and growth, 

 and represents staphylococcus cereus albus. I have met 

 with both these varieties in purulent matter of the sores 

 after vaccination, also from variola in the suppurative stage. 



4. Streptococcus pyogenes albus. — This is the microbe of 

 acute phlegmon ; it is also present in chronic abscess, 

 in acute serous effusions. The principal morphological 

 characters of this as also of other species of streptococci 



