MICROCOCCUS GONORRHCE^ 347 



In consideration of such evidence as this it is plain that 

 we can no longer adhere rigidly to the opinions formerly 

 held upon the etiology of suppuration, but must subject 

 them to modifications in conformity with this newer evi- 

 dence. We now know that there exist bacteria other than 

 the " pyogenic cocci," which, though not normally pyogenic, 

 may give rise to tissue-changes indistinguishable from those 

 produced by the ordinary pus-organisms. 



Furthermore — of organisms not classified as of the 

 "pyogenic group," but where growth in the tissues is always 

 accompanied by pus formation — one may mention micro- 

 coccus gonorrhea, micrococcus intracellularis, and bacillus 

 pestis. 



MICROCOCCUS GONORRHE(E.a: (NEISSER), 1879. 



Synonym: Gonooocous Neisser, Bumm, 1887. 



One observes upon microscopic examination of cover-slips 

 prepared from the pus of actue gonorrhea that many of the 

 pus-cells contain within their protoplasm numerous small, 

 stained bodies that are usually arranged in pairs. Occasion- 

 ally a cell is seen that contains only one or two pairs of 

 such bodies; again, a cell will be encountered that is packed 

 with them. Occasionally masses of these small bodies will 

 be seen lying free in the pus. (See Fig. 69.) The majority 

 of the pus-cells do not contain them. 



These small, round, or oval bodies are the so-called 

 "gonococci" discovered by Neisser, and more fully studied 

 subsequently by Bumm, to whom we are indebted for much 

 of our knowledge concerning them. 



As the name implies, this organism is a micrococcus, and 

 as it is commonly arranged in pairs (flattened at the sur- 



