304 LEPROSY 



probably have been carried by leucocytes, but this position is, 

 on the whole, exceptional They also occur in large numbers in 

 the lymphatic glands associated with the affected parts. In the 

 internal organs, — liver, spleen, etc., — when leprous lesions are 

 present, the bacilli are also found, though in relatively smaller 

 numbers. In the nerves in the anaesthetic form they are com- 

 paratively few, and in the sclerosed parts it may be impossible to 

 find any. There are few also in the skin patches referred to 

 above as occurring in this form of the disease. 



Their spread is chiefly by the lymphatics, though distribution 



by the blood 

 stream also oc- 

 curs. They are 

 said to have been 

 found in the blood 

 during the pres- 

 ence of fever and 

 the eruption of 

 fresh nodules, and 

 they have also 

 been observed in 

 " __ *• the blood vessels 

 y * , -post mortem, 



-<♦ 



r---x 



chiefly contained 



within leucocytes. 



~ ' ~\ ^ ' „ I \ j, *• * A few may be 



Jlit- ' v t'f ? detected in some 



■^, . . cases in various 



1 organs which 



Fig. 87.— Kedrowski's leprosy bacillus ; pure snow n0 stmc " 



culture on fish agar. tural change, es- 



Carbol-fnchsin. xlOOO. pecially in the 



capillaries. The 

 brain and spinal cord are almost exempt, but in some cases 

 bacilli have been found even within nerve cells. 



Cultivation. — Within recent years various observers have 

 claimed to have cultivated the bacillus of leprosy, but there 

 exists considerable discrepancy in the results obtained, and much 

 additional work is still necessary before a definite statement can 

 be made. Kedrowski cultivated an organism which in culture 

 appeared as a non-acid-fast diphtheroid, but which regained the 

 acid-fast character in the tissues of animals. When injected 

 into mice and rats it produced, in a certain proportion of cases, 

 lesions which presented the essential features of human leprosy, 



