290 SPECIFIC MICRO-ORGANISMS 



anti-sera for the prophylaxis and treatment of these wound 

 infections. 



Clostridiiun Tetani. — Tetanus has been recognized as a com- 

 plication of wounds since the time of Hippocrates. ForscBer, 

 Carle and Rattone, in 1884, first proved it to be inoculable by in- 

 jecting pus from a human case into 12 rabbits, of which 11 died 

 of tetanus. Nicolaier in 1884 produced tetanus by injecting soil 

 into mice, guinea-pigs and rabbits, and found a slender bacillus 

 in the animals at the point of inoculation. He was able to prop- 

 agate the bacillus in mixed culture on coagulated sheep's serum. 

 Kitasato obtained the first pure cultures by subjecting the mixed 

 culture to a temperature of 80° C. for an hour, inoculating agar 

 plates and incubating them in an atmosphere of hydrogen. With 

 his pure cultures, he caused typical tetanus in animals. 



The organism occurs in the soil which has received animal 

 fertilizers and in the intestine of herbivorous mammals'. The 

 bacterial cell is 0.3 to 0.5/4 wide and 2 to 4ju long, single in young 

 cultures, but often joined end to end to form long threads in older 

 cultures. It is motile and possesses abundant peritrichous 

 fiagella. The spore is very characteristic. It is usually spherical, 

 I to i.SiU in diameter, situated at the extremity of the cell, giving 

 it the appearance of a' drumstick. The bacillus stains readily 

 and is Gram-positive. 



Isolation of CI. tetani from mixed material or from wounds 

 known to contain it is not always easy. The material should 

 be planted in glucose broth and incubated in hydrogen at 37° C. 

 for 2 to 3 days. Microscopic examination of the sediment may 

 then reveal the drumsticks. Kitasato's procedure should then be 

 followed, employing agar distinctly alkahne to htmxis and con- 

 taining 2 per cent of glucose. If many other spore-forming bac- 

 teria are present in the mixture, special procedures are necessary, 

 such as preliminary culture for 8 days at 37° C. in a deep stab in 

 coagulated rabbit's blood with subsequent heating to 80° C. to 

 get rid of CI. edematis, or culture for 8 days at 37° C. in milk 

 with subsequent heating to get rid of CI. perfringens. Aerobic 



