TEXT-BOOK OF BACTERIOLOGY. 261 



dulations. Loffler has been able, by means of his peculiar staining' 

 process, to demonstrate the organs of locomotion of the cholera 

 bacilli; they consist of a single flagellupa attached to one end of the 

 cell only and are slightly bent in a wavy motion. 



It is not yet fully known whether the comma bacillus forms 

 spores or not. Koch and the great majority of investigators have 

 not noticed the appearance of any special germinal forms; no- 

 body has yet succeeded, for instance by staining, in demonstrat- 

 ing spores. Hueppe, on the other hand, claims to have found a 

 process of sporulation by continued observation of the micro- 

 organism in the hanging drop and on the heated slide table. He 

 describes it as follows: The bacteria grew first in spiral threads; 

 then arose (in no particular places) single, small, shining globules, 

 which refracted light more strongly than the other cellular contents, 

 and could easily be distinguished from them. These globules 

 did not develop as special structures, like the spores in an anthrax 

 rod; the entire limb gradually assumed a new shape; two such 

 globules generally issued from one cell. These are, according to 

 Hueppe, immovable and certainly do not increase by fission; but 

 they can germinate and produce new bacteria as soon as they are 

 brought into fresh media. Their lustre decreases, they elongate, 

 and Hueppe claims to have seen the young cell thus arising from 

 the germ ("spore"). He regards the process as a formation of 

 arthro-spores and considers the globules as such. 



But we have seen that very eminent investigators deny the 

 occurrence of this kind of sporulation, and only admit an endoge- 

 nous form. Hueppe's results have not been confirmed by other 

 reliable investigators, as, for instance, Kitasato, who worked on the 

 same subject, so that we may justly consider the occurrence of 

 spores in the comma bacillus as not yet proven. 



All other known facts certainly contradict the supposition of 

 sporulation, if we demand of a spore that it represent a germinating 

 and enduring possibilitj-. The cholera bacteria have no form that 

 possesses more than the ordinary amount of resisting power, which 

 would enable it to perpetuate the species with greater certainty. 



It has been ascertained, on the contrary, that the comma bacilli 

 are among the most sensitive micro-organisms known. High tem- 

 peratures (above 50° C.) kill them with certainty in a short time; 

 they cannot withstand the action of chemical agents, especially 

 acids. The acid of the gastric juice destroys them absolutely; they 

 do not thrive on gelatin containing a trace of acid reaction. An 

 extremely important qualitj^ (of which we shall speak again) is 

 their destruction by drying in a very short time; for, while they 



