CHAPTER XIX. 



Inoculation experiments witli sputum — Sputum septictemia — 

 Septicaemia resulting from the presence of the micrococcus tetra 

 genus in the tissues — ^Tuberculosis. 



Obtain from a tuberculous patient a sample of fresh 

 sputum — that of the morning is preferable. Spread it 

 out in a thiu layer upon a black glass plate and select 

 one of the small, white, cheesy masses or dense mucous 

 clumps that will be seen scattered through the sputum. 

 With a pointed forceps smear it carefully upon two 

 or three thin cover-slips, dry and fix them in the 

 way given for ordinary cover-slip preparations. Stain 

 one in the ordinary way with Loffler's alkaline methy- 

 lene-blue solution, the other by the Gram method, the 

 third after the method given for tubercle bacilli in fluids 

 or sputum. 



In that stained by Loffler's method — slip No. 1 — will 

 be seen a great variety of organisms — round cells, ovals, 

 short and long rods, perhaps spiral forms. But not in- 

 frequently will be seen diplococci, having more or less 

 of a lancet shape ; they will be joined together by their 

 broad ends, the points of the lancet being away from the 

 point of juncture of the two cells. There may also be 

 seen masses of cocci which are conspicuous for their ar- 

 rangement into groups of fours, the adjacent surfaces 

 being somewhat flattened. They are not sarcinse, as one 

 can see by the absence of the division in the third direc- 

 tion — they divide only in two directions. 



