CHAPTER III 

 TETANUS 



Bacillus Tetani (Fltjgge) 



General Characteristics. — A motile, flagellated, sporogenous, liquefying, 

 obligatory anaerobic, non-chromogenic, aerogenic, toxic, pathogenic bacillus of 

 the soil, staining by ordinary methods and by Gram's method. Its chief 

 morphologic characteristic is the occurrence of a large round spore at one end. 



The bacillus of tetanus was discovered by Nicolaier* in 1884, 

 and obtained in pure culture by Kitasato f in 1 889. It is universally 

 acknowledged to be the cause of tetanus or "lock-jaw." 



Distribution. — The tetanus bacillus is a common saprophyte in 

 garden earth, dust, and manure, and is a constant parasite in the in- 

 testinal contents of herbivorous animals.' , 



The relation of the bacillus to manure is interesting, but it is most 

 probable that manured ground, because it is richer, permits the 

 baciUi to flourish better than sterile ground. The common occur- 

 rence of the baccilli in the excrement of herbivorous animals is to be 

 explained through the accidental ingestion of earth with the food 

 ' cropped from the ground. The spores of the bacillus thus reaching 

 the intestine seem able to develop because of appropriate anaerobic 

 conditions. Verneuil has observed that tetanus rarely occurs at sea 

 except upon cattle transports. 



Le DantecJ has shown that the tetanus bacillus is a common or- 

 ganism in New Hebrides, where the natives poison their arrows 

 by dipping them into a clay rich in its spores. 



Morphology. — The tetanus bacillus is a long, slender organism 

 measuring 0.3 to 0.5 X 2 to 4 /i (Fliigge). Its most striking char- 

 acteristic is an enlargement of one end, which contains a large round 

 spore. The bacilli in which no spores are yet formed have rounded 

 ends and seldom unite in chains or pairs. They are motile and 

 have many flagella arising from all parts of the surface (petrichia). 



Staining.-^The bacilh stain readily with ordinary aqueous solu- 

 tions of the anilin dyes and by Gram's method. 



Isolation. — The method usually employed for the isolation of the 

 tetanus bacillus was originated by Kitasato, and based upon the 

 observation that its spores can resist exposure to high temperatures 

 for considerable periods of time. After finding by microscopic 

 examination that the bacilH were present in pus, Kitasato spread it 

 upon the surface of an ordinary agar-agar tube and incubated it for 



* "Deutsche med. Wochenschrift," 1884, 42. 



t Ibid., 1889, No. 31. 



j See abstracts in the "Centralbl. f. Bakti. u. Parasitenk.," rx, 286; xra, 351. 



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