Bacillus Rhinoscleromatis 



759 



pharynx. The growths are without evidence of acute inflammation, 

 do not usually ulcerate, and upon microscopic examination consist 

 of an infiltration of the papillary layer and corium of the skin, with 

 round cells which in part change to fibrillar tissue. The tumors 

 possess a well-developed lymph- vascular system. Sometimes, the 

 cells undergo hyaline degeneration. 



In the nodes, von Frisch discovered bacilli closely resembling the 

 pneumobacillus of Friedlander, both in morphology and vegetation, 

 and, like it, surrounded by a capsule. The only differences between 



Fig. 300.— Rhinoscleroma (Courtesy of Mr. Owen Richards, Cairo, Egypt). 



the bacillus of rhinoscleroma and Bacillus pneumoniae of Friedlander 

 are that the former stains well by Gram's method, while the latter 

 does not; that the former is rather more distinctly rod-shaped than 

 the latter, and more often shows its capsule in culture-media. 



The bacillus can be cultivated, and cultures in all media resemble 

 those of the bacillus of Friedlander {q.v.) so closely as to be almost 

 indistinguishable from it. The chief difference lies in its inability 

 to endure acid media and to ferment carbohydrates. Even when 

 inoculated into animals the bacillus behaves much like Friedlander's 

 bacillus. 



