CH. XI] BACILLI , SPECIFICALLY PATHOGENIC 235 



bacillus serogenes capsulatus, and by A. Fraenkel under 

 the name of bacillus gasoformans. This bacillus is virulent 

 to rodents (rabbits), producing acute septicaemic infection, 

 and death in twenty-four hours, the blood of the general 

 circulation containing copiously the microbe ; so strong is the 

 gas-forming power of this snicrobe that the viscera of the dead 

 (experimental) animal are found permeated by gas bubbles. 

 My colleague. Dr. Kanthack, has also obtained this bacillus 

 from the human dead body ; it completely coincided with 

 that described by Welch and Nutall and by Fraenkel, and 

 after carefully investigating its morphological and cultural 

 characters Dr. Kanthack came to the conclusion that this 

 bacillus is a virulent variety of bacillus coli. In shape, size, 

 in its flagella ; in plate, streak, and stab culture in gelatine ; 

 in its forming copiously gas bubbles in gelatine shake 

 culture ; in its power of curdling milk and of forming indol 

 in broth — it completely coincides with the bacillus coh, the 

 difference being, as stated above, that the bacillus gasoformans 

 is at first very virulent and forms copiously gas, but in con- 

 tinued subcultures assumes the character, both as to virulence 

 and formation of gas bubbles, of the typical bacillus coli. 



Bacillus of typhoid fever in man (Eberth-Gaffky). — In all 

 cases of typhoid fever, if the spleen or the mesenteric 

 glands are examined by film specimens or by culture, 

 bacilli will be found in numbers which in morphological 

 and cultural respects belong to the group of colon-like 

 species that we have been describing hitherto, viz. they are 

 cylindrical motile bacilli which do not liquefy gelatine, 

 which do not form spores, and which in gelatine plates, in 

 gelatine streak and gelatine stab, on Agar and broth, show 

 similar characters as those of the above bacilh, but, as 

 we shall presently show, possess, on careful analysis. 



