412 INFECTIVE DISEASES. 



Cornil and Alvarez). — Cocci and short rods, 1 '5 to 3 /j, in length,. 

 •5 to "8 fi thick. Deeply coloured points or granules may occur 

 in the course of the rods when stained, but it is very doubtful 

 whether these can be considered as spores. The bacteria are en- 

 capsuled, the capsule being round when enclosing a coccus, and 

 ovoid when enclosing a rod. The capsule is composed of a tough 

 resisting substance; two or more capsules may unite by fusion, 

 enclosing two, three, or a greater number of rods. The bacilli were 

 observed in sections of the tumours, which developed on the lips 

 and in the nasal and pharyngo-laryngeal regions. 



Method op Staining the Bacillus of Rhino- Scleroma. 



Method of Cornil and Alvarez : — 



Sections are immersed in a solution of methyl-violet (B) for twenty- 

 four to forty-eight hours, with or without the addition of aniline-water ; 

 and are then decolorised after treatment with the solution of iodine in 

 iodide of potassium. If the sections are left to decolorise in alcohol for 

 forty-eight hours, the capsule is rendered visible. 



Trachoma. 



Trachoma is a disease of the conjunctiva, common in Egypt. 

 The new growth is composed of round cells, and may be regarded, 

 according to Kartulis, as the chronic stage of either gonorrhoeal or 

 Egyptian ophthalmia. Koch failed to find any micro-organisms 

 in the swollen lymph follicles. Sattler asserted that he had culti- 

 vated a micrococcus which produced the disease when inoculated 

 on the conjunctiva. Other observers have found the common 

 pyogenic micrococci in the secretions, especially Staphylococcus 

 pyogenes aureus and albus. 



