Bacillary Dysentery 647 



material which may be so extensive as to involve the entire thick- 

 ness of the organ. There is usually one large abscess, but there 

 may be several small ones, or the liver may be riddled with minute 

 abscesses. The content of the abscesses is pinkish necrotic material 

 in which amebas are few. The walls are of semi-necrotic material, 

 in which great numbers of amebas abound. The liver sometimes 

 becomes adherent to the diaphragm, may perforate it, and after 

 adhesion of the lung to the diaphragm may evacuate through the 

 lung, the pinkish abscess contents with amebas being expectorated. 

 Sections of the intestinal wall and of the liver near the border 

 of the abscess show the amebas well when stained with iron-hema- 

 toxylon, or perhaps still better by Mallory's differential method.* 



1. Harden the tissue in alcohol. 



2. Stain sections in a saturated aqueous solution of thionin three to five 

 minutes. 



3. Differentiate in a 2 per cent, aqueous solution of oxalic acid for one-half to 

 one minute. 



4. Wash in water. 



5. Dehydrate in absolute alcohol. 



6. Clear in alcohol. 



7. Xylol-balsam. 



The nuclei of the amebas and the granules of the mast-cells are stained brown- 

 ish red; the nuclei of the mast-cells and of all other cells are stained blue. 



II. BACILLARY DYSENTERY 



Bacillus Dysenteric (Shiga) 



General Characteristics. — A non-motUe, non-flagellated, non-sporogenous, 

 non-liquefying, aerobic and optionally anaerobic, non-chromogenic, non-aero- 

 genic, pathogenic bacillus of the intestine, staining by ordinary methods, but not 

 by Gram's method. It does not produce indol. It first acidifies, then alkalin- 

 izes milk, but does not coagulate it. 



After considerable investigation of the epidemic dysentery 

 prevalent in Japan, Shigaf came to the conclusion that a bacillus 

 which he called Bacillus dysenteriae was its specific cause. 



It is not improbable that the baciUus of Shiga is identical with 

 Bacterium coli, variety dysenierice, of CeUi, Fiocca, and Scala,t 

 a view that has been further confirmed by Flexner.|| It may also 

 be identical with an organism described in 1888 by Chantemasse 

 and Widal.§ 



In 1899 Flexner,** while visiting the PhiUppine Islands, isolated 

 a bacillus from the epidemic dysentery prevailing there, which he 

 regarded as identical with Shiga's organism. In 1890 Strong and 



* "Pathological Technic," 1911, p. 434. 

 t "Centralbl. f. Bakt. u. Parasitenk.," 1898, xxiv, Nos. 22-24. 

 t "Hygien. Institut. Rom. Univ.," 1895, and "Centralbl. f. Bakt. u. Parasi- 

 tenk.," 1899. 



II "Univ. of Penna. Med. Bulletin," Aug., 1901. 

 § Deutsche med. Wochenschrift," 1903, No. 12. 

 ** "Bulletin of the Johns Hopkins Hospital," 1900, ix. 



