256 



GONORRHOEA AND SOFT SORE 



within the protoplasm, especially superficially, and are often so 

 numerous that the leucocytes appear to be filled with them, and 

 their nuclei are obscured. As the disease becomes more chronic, 



the gonococci gradually 

 become fewer, though even 

 in long-standing cases they 

 may still be found in con- 

 siderable numbers. They 

 are also present in the 

 purulent secretion of 

 gonorrheal conjunctivitis, 

 also in various parts of 

 the female genital organs 

 when these parts are the 

 seat of true gonorrhceal 

 infection, and they have 

 been found in some cases 

 in the secondary infections 

 of the joints, as will be 

 described below. 



Staining. — The gono- 



coccus stains readily and 



deeply with a watery 



solution of any of the 



basic aniline dyes — methylene-blue, fuchsin, etc. It is, however, 



easily decolorised, and it completely loses the stain by Gram's 



method — an important point in the microscopical examination. 



Cultivation of the Gonococcus. — This is attended with some 

 difficulty, as the conditions of growth are somewhat restricted. 

 The most suitable media are " blood-agar " and the serum media 

 already described for the purpose (pp. 43, 45). It is advisable 

 to inoculate the media within half-an-hour after obtaining the 

 material from the body, and to place the tubes at once in the 

 incubator. Growth takes place best at the temperature 'of 

 the body, and ceases altogether at 25° C. Cultures are obtained 

 by taking some pus on the loop of the platinum needle and 

 inoculating one of the media mentioned by leaving minute 

 quantities here and there on the surface. The medium may be 

 used either as ordinary "sloped tubes" or as a thin layer in a 

 Petri's capsule. The young colonies are usually visible within 

 forty-eight hours, and often within twenty-four hours ; it is 

 important, however, to note that sometimes growth may not 

 appear till the fourth day. They appear around the points of 

 inoculation as small semi-transparent discs of rounded shape. 



Fig. 68. — -Portion of film of gonorrheal pus, 

 showing the characteristic arrangement of 

 the gonococci within leucocytes. See also 

 Plate I., Fig. 5. 



Stained with fuchsin. x 1000. 



