268 MANUAL OF BACTERIOLOGY. 



not usually pathogenic for rabbits and mice. In guinea-pigs, 

 sparrows and pigeons it may produce "gas phlegmons." 

 It has been found on numerous occasions in the organs 

 of human cadavers in which a development of gas had 

 taken place, producing bubbles or cavities in the tissues, 

 imparting to them a pecuhar spongy character (German, 

 Schaumorgane). Probably this is, as a rule, a post-mor- 

 tem invasion, but there is reason to believe that in some 

 cases it enters the circulation during life. It has been found in 

 cases of emphysematous gangrene or cellulitis, in various uter- 

 ine infections, including physometra and emphysema of the 

 uteriae wall, in pneumothorax and pneumoperitonitis, and in 

 other pathological conditions where gas occurs in the tissues. 

 Exceptionally it may cause pus-formation.* This bacillus, 

 or the gas formed by it in the organs of human cadavers, appears 

 to have furnished the basis for some of the cases in which death 

 has been ascribed to the entrance of air into the veins during 

 life. It is the same as the organism described by E. Frankel 

 as Bacillus phlegmonis emphysematosse. 



Bacillus oedematis maligni (French, Vibrion sepiique). 

 — A bacillus about i /i in breadth, 2 to lo /^ in length, which 

 may form threads, having rounded ends when occurring singly. 

 It is motile, having flagella at the sides and ends. It forms 

 spores, and may bulge at the center in consequence of the 

 spores formed there. It is decolorized by Gram's method. 

 It is a strict anaerobe and is best cultivated under hydrogen. 

 It grows at ordinary temperatures, but better in the incubator. 

 It liquefies gelatin and blood-serum. The colonies in gelatin 

 are spherical and appear Uke little bubbles. It grows well upon 

 agar. Gas may be produced in these media. 



It is found in garden-earth, street dirt and in putrefying 

 organic material. It is pathogenic to rabbits, guinea-pigs, 



* Welch. Philadelphia Medical Journal. August 4, 1900. 



