Bacillus Pyocyaneus 333 



ferment, the pyocyanase of Emmerich and Low. It produces no 

 diastatic ferments, so does not ferment carbohydrates. 



It also produces, under favorable conditions, a toxin which has 

 been studied by Wassermann, who found it fatal in doses of 0.2 

 to 0.5 cc. when intraperitoneally injected into guinea-pigs. The 

 animals show peritonitis and punctif orm hemorrhages on the serous 

 membranes. 



Bullock and Hunter* found that Bacillus pyocyaneous also pro- 

 duces a hemolytic substance, pyocyanolysin, by which corpuscles of 

 man, oxen, sheep, apes, rabbits, cats, rats, dogs, and mice are dis- 

 solved. The peculiar substance was produced in greatest quantity 

 in virulent cultures three or four weeks old. Jordanj believes that 

 this hemolytic property depends solely upon the intense alkali 

 formed in old cultures. GheorghewskiJ found a leukocyte-destroy- 

 ing substance in the cultures. 



In addition to the metabolic pigments mentioned, the organism 

 produces toxins. Wassermann§ found that filtrates of old cultures 

 were more toxic for guinea-pigs than the endotoxins made by lysis 

 of dead bacteria. The organism thus produces both endo- and 

 exotoxins. 



Pathogenesis. — The bacillus is pathogenic for the small laboratory 

 animals, but different cultures differ greatly in virulence. One 

 cc. of a virulent bouillon culture, injected into the subcutaneous 

 tissue of a guinea-pig, causes rapid edema, suppurative inflamma- 

 tion, and death in a short time (twenty-four hours). Sometimes the 

 animal lives for a week or more, then dies. There is a marked 

 hemorrhagic subcutaneous edema at the seat of inoculation. The 

 bacilli can be found in the blood and in most of the tissues. 

 Rats and mice behave similarly to guinea-pigs when inoculated 

 subcutaneously. 



Rabbits are less susceptible and subcutaneous injections rarely 

 cause death. Intraperitoneal injection may be followed by fatal 

 infection if the bacillus be highly virulent or if it be not virulent, 

 recovery may occur. Intravenous inoculation causes fever, al- 

 buminuria, diarrhea and death in a day or two. If the dose be 

 smaller or the virulence of the culture less, a subacute disturbance 

 characterized by wasting, palsy and convulsions may occur. If 

 the animal dies, nephritis can usually be found, and perhaps explains 

 the symptoms. 



Dogs are susceptible to infection by B. pyocyaneus, the symptoms 

 bearing a considerable resemblance to rabies. 



Blum|| reports a case of pyocyaneus infection with endocarditis 

 in a child. 



* " Centralbl. f. Bakt.," xxviii, 1900, p. 865. 

 , t Ibid., Bd. xxxin, Ref. 1903. 



X "Ann. de I'lnst. Pasteur," 1899, xiii. 

 § "Zeitschrift fiir Hygiene, 1896, xxii. 

 II "Centralbl. f. Bakt. u. Parasitenk.," Feb. 10, 1899, xxv. No. 4. 



^xL 



