225 PRACTICAL BACTERIOLOGY. 



occurs in the eastern provinces of Germany, and an 

 epidemic which has been ' known in Berlin. This 

 organism is very different in form from the preceding 

 ones, resembling most the Sfirochmte plicatilis, a very 

 motile bacterium which is found in marshy water. In 

 consequence of this resemblance, it has been called 

 the Spirochcete Ohermeieri. These spirilla form 

 very thin, long threads with many convolutions, which 

 are often bent upon themselves. They occur only in 

 the blood of patients suffering from relapsing fever, 

 and, strange to say, only during the onset of the 

 fever. They are very motile, and retain this motility 

 for some hours after leaving the human body. They 

 have not been cultivated artificially ; they can be 

 easily stained with all the usual aniline dyes, but it is 

 best to use methylene blue, though this reagent must 

 however be used with care on account of the presence 

 of the blood corpuscles in the cover-glass prepara- 

 tions. Monkeys are the only animals upon whom 

 inoculation has had any effect. 



