Zur Nedden's Bacillus 409 



serum is almost immediately liquefied, so that the growing colonies 

 appear to be sinking into the medium after thirty-six hours. The 

 entire tube of medium may eventually be liquefied. 



Upon agar-agar containing serum, grayish-white colonies of 

 small size, resembhng colonies of gonococci, are formed. Growth 

 is slow. Bouillon is slowly clouded. 



Pathogenesis. — The pathogenic and specific nature of the diplo- 

 bacillus was made clear by Morax, who produced the disease in 

 man by placing a pure culture upon the human conjunctiva. 



Zur Nedden's Bacillus 



This bacillus was the only organism that Haupt* was able to 

 isolate from a neuroparalytic with confluent peripheral ulcera- 



Fig. 149. — The Morax-Axenfeld diplobacillus of conjunctivitis. Magnified 

 1000 diameters (Rymowitsch and Matschinsky ) . 



tions of the cornea. It seemed to be identical with an organism 

 that zur Nedden had found previously in a case of corneal ulcera- 

 tion in the clinic at Bonn. 



Morphology. — It is a tiny bacillus, less than i m in length, slightly 

 curved, generally single, but sometimes in pairs and short chains. 

 It is not motile, has no flagella, forms no spores. 



Staining. — It stains ordinarily, but not by Gram's method. 



Cultivation. — It is easily cultivated upon the ordinary laboratory 

 media, the cultures being without characteristic peculiarities. 

 Gelatin is not liquefied. Milk is coagulated. Acid but no gas is 

 formed in glucose media. A thick yellowish growth appears upon 

 potato. No indol is formed. 



Pathogenesis. — Corneal ulcers were formed in a guinea-pig 

 after artificial implantation in the corneal tissue. 



* "Inaugural Dissertation," Bonn, igo2. 



