Bacilli Resembling the Typhoid Bacillus 669 



Vital Resistance. — It strongly resists drying, but dies when exposed in cultures 

 to a temperature of 60° C. for a few minutes, and is killed in seven hours by the 

 solar rays. It can live for a considerable time in sea-water. 



Metabolism. — The bacillus is an optional anaerobe. It slowly ferments dex- 

 trose, forming gas. It does not coagulate milk. In the cultures a small amount 

 of indol is formed. 



Pathogenesis. — The bacillus is pathogenic for the domestic animals, aU mam- 

 mals seeming to be more or less sensitive to it. Birds are often immune. White 

 mice are killed in five days, guinea-pigs in from eight to twelve days rabbits in 

 from four to five days, by virulent cultures. The morbid changes present include 

 splenic tumor, hypertrophy of the thymus, and adenitis. In the rabbit there are, 

 in addition, nephritis, enteritis, albuminuria, hemoglobinuria, and hemorrhages 

 into the body cavities. 



Sanarelli states that the dog is the most susceptible animal. When it is injected 

 intravenously, symptoms appear almost immediately and recall the clinical and 

 anatomic features of yellow fever in man. The most prominent symptom in the 

 dog is vomiting, which begins directly after the penetration of the virus into the 

 blood, and continues for a long time. Hemorrhages appear after the vomiting, 

 the urine is scanty and albuminous, or is suppressed shortly before death. Grave 

 jaundice was once observed. 



Bacillus Typhi Murium (Lofi'ler) 



General Characteristics. — A motile, flagellated, non-sporogenous, non-liquefy- 

 ing, non-chromogenic, non-aerogenic, aerobic and optionally anaerobic bacillus, 

 pathogenic for mice and other small animals, staining by the ordinary methods, 

 hut not by Gram's method. It acidulates but does not coagulate milk. 



Bacillus typhi murium was discovered by Loffler* in 1889, when it created 

 havoc among the mice in his laboratory at Greifswald. 



Morphology. — The organism bears a close resemblance to that of typhoid fever, 

 sometimes appearing short, sometimes long and flexible. There are many long 

 and curly flagella with peritrichial arrangement, and the organism is actively 

 motile. It does not produce spores. 



Staining. — It stains with the ordinary dyes, but rather better with Loffler's 

 alkaline methylene blue, not by Gram's method. 



Isolation. — The bacilli were first isolated from the blood of dead mice. 



Cultivation. — Their cultivation presents no dif&culties. 



Colonies. — Upon gelatin plates the deep colonies are at first round, slightly 

 granular, transparent, and grayish. Later they become yellowish brown and 

 granular. Superficial colonies are similar to those of the typhoid bacillus. 



Gelatin. — In gelatin punctures there is no liquefaction. The growth takes 

 place principally upon the surface, where a grayish-white mass slowly forms, and 

 together witii the growth in the puncture suggests a large flat-headed nail. _ 



Agar-agar. — Upon agar-agar a grayish-white growth devoid of peculiarities 

 occurs. 



Potato. — Upon potato a rather thin whitish growth may be observed after 

 a few days. 



Milk. — The bacillus grows well in milk, causing acid reaction, without coagu- 

 lation. 



Bouillon.— In bouillon it produces clouding. There is no fermentation of 

 saccharose, dextrose, lactose, or levulose. ' 



Pathogenesis. — The organism is pathogenic for mice of all kinds, which suc- 

 cumb in from one to two days when inoculated subcutaneously, and in from eig;ht 

 to twelve days when fed upon material containing the bacillus. The bacilli 

 multiply rapidly in the blood- and lymph-channels, and cause death from 

 septicemia. _ . " . 



Loffler expressed the opinion that this bacillus might be of use in ridding in- 

 fested premises of mice, and its use for this purpose has been satisfactory in 

 many places. He has succeeded in ridding fields so infested with mice as to be 

 useless for agricultural purposes, by saturating bread with bouillon cultures of 

 the bacillus and distributing it near their holes. The bacilli not only killed the 



*■ "Centralbl. f. Bakt. u. Parasitenk.," xi, p. 129. 



