366 TEXT-BOOK OF BACTERIOLOGY. 



finally rupture into the mouth or outside. Nodules of similar 

 formation are generally found in the larynx and the lymphatic 

 glands. Numerous abscess-like foci are seen on section: they sur- 

 round yellow, nearly hemp-seed- sized, rough, compact bodies. By 

 crushing such a particle between two cover-glasses, it will fall 

 apart in many small pieces whose composition will be shown by 

 proper staining. 



Leave the preparations for twenty -four hours in an anilin-water 

 gentian-violet solution, or for one-half hour in hot carbol-f uchsin ; 

 then for a few minutes — about a quai'ter of an hour — in iodide of 

 potassium solution and thence into alcohol, etc. It will soon be 

 seen that the globules just described, consist of a dense mass of 

 hypha-like anastomosing threads. They radiate uniformly in all 

 directions from a dense centre, gradually widen toward the end, 

 and terminate in club-shaped, very characteristic swellings. The 

 whole thus presents the appearance of a crystallized piece of ore or 

 a filled aster. 



The same structures have not only been observed in cattle and 

 hogs (within the striated muscles), but recently and frequently also 

 in man. They usually give rise to extensive suppurations, peri- 

 tonitis, etc., generally terminating fatally. 



A. successful culture of the actinomyces has recently been re- 

 ported from different sources. But these statements are still 

 doubtful because transmission from artificial cultures to animals 

 failed. 



This gap has but very recently been filled \>y the combined ex- 

 periments of M. Wolff and J. Israel. On agar-agar, and also within 

 raw hen's eggs — according to Hueppe's method — yellowish-white 

 vegetations of a dense and greatly-twisted mycelium were devel- 

 oped. The injection of such masses into the abdominal cavity of 

 a rabbit produced changes in the peritoneum whose actinomycotic 

 character has been established by microscopic investigation. 



