276 MANUAL OF BACTERIOLOGY. 



and is decolorized by Gram's method. It is aerobic, grows 

 only in the incubator, and upon media containing hemo- 

 globin. The medium is prepared by smearing sterile blood 

 over the surface of a tube of agar. Fresh, uncoagulated blood 

 may, with care, be mixed with melted agar sufi&ciently cooled; 

 the mixture may be poured into tubes and slanted; the tubes 

 should be tested in the incubator before using. The blood of 

 some animals, as the pigeon and rabbit, may be used instead 







j^ 









Fig 80. — Anthrax Bacilli in the Capillaries of the Liver of a 

 MotrsE, Sketched from a Section Stained with Fdchsin. 



of human blood.* The colonies are small and transparent, 

 looking Hke Uttle drops of water, not becoming confluent. 



Of a large number of bacilli, the majority are destroyed in 

 twenty-four hours or less by drying. They die out in a similar 

 manner in water. Experiments upon animals up to this time 

 are not conclusive. For diagnostic purposes, the sputum should 

 be carefully collected in a sterile bottle. If the particles of 

 sputum are likely to have become contaminated, rinse in 



* Cenlralblatt jiir Bakteriologie. Bd. XXXII. Original. P. 667. 



