456 QUARTER-EVIL 



digestion of the tissues in the vicinity occurs so as sometimes actually 

 to expose the bones. 



Bacillus putrificus. — This anaerobe was first described by Bienstock, 

 who considered it the chief agent in putrefaction — hence the name. It 

 measures usually 5-6 > in length, though shorter and also longer fila- 

 mentous forms are met with, and is relatively slender. It is actively 

 motile and forms oval terminal spores which are large in proportion to 

 the size of the rod. It grows readily under anaerobic conditions and 

 gives a very foul odour in all media. The superficial colonies are trans- 

 parent discs rounded or irregular in form, while the deep ones are woolly 

 in appearance not unlike those of the b. sporogenes. The organism has 

 marked proteolytic action, rapidly liquefying gelatine and coagulated 

 serum, and the ultimate products are comparatively simple compounds, 

 including various gases. Bienstock found that it did not ferment carbo- 

 hydrates, but strains isolated by other workers have fermented certain of 

 the sugars. To the sugar-fermenting variety Bienstock gave the name 

 b. paraputrificus. Inoculation experiments with the b. putrificus show 

 that it is practically devoid of pathogenic properties. 



Quarter-evil (German, Ratjschbeand ; French, Charbun 

 Symptomatique). 



The characters of the bacillus need be only briefly described, as, so far 

 as is known, it never infects the human subject. The natural disease, 

 which occurs especially in certain localities, affects chiefly sheep, cattle, 

 and goats. Infection takes place by some wound of the surface, and 

 then spreads in the region around, inflammatory swelling attended by 

 bloody cedema and emphysema of the tissues. The part becomes greatly 

 swollen, and of a dark, almost black, colour. Hence the name " black- 

 quarter " by which the disease is often known. The bacillus whichjpro- 

 duces this condition is present in large numbers in the affected tissues, 

 associated with other organisms, and also occurs in small numbers in the 

 blood of internal organs. 



The bacillus morphologically closely resembles that of malignant 

 cedema. Like the latter, also, it is o strict anaerobe, and its conditions 

 of growth as regards temperature are also similar. It is, however, some- 

 what thicker, and does not usually form long filaments ; occasionally it 

 occurs in short chains. The spores, which are of oval shape and broader 

 than the bacillus, are usually subterminal, though central-spored 

 Clostridium forms occur (Fig. 133). This bacillus is actively motile, and 

 possesses numerous lateral flagella. The characters of the oultures, also, 

 resemble those of the bacillus of malignant cedema, but in a stab culture 

 in glucose agar there are more numerous and longer lateral offshoots, the 

 growth being also more luxuriant (Fig. 131, C). The superficial colonies 

 are small greyish rounded discs with a thicker centre ; the deep colonies 

 show a radiating appearance at the periphery. M'Intosh finds that the 

 organism belongs to the non-proteolytic class. It produces acid clot in 

 milk in three to four days and ferments glucose, maltose, lactose, and 

 saccharose, but not inulin or dulcite. It does not liquefy coagulated serum. 



The disease can be readily produced in various animals, e.g., guinea- 

 pigs by inoculation with the affected tissues of diseased animals, and 

 also by means of pure cultures, though an intramuscular injection of a 

 considerable amount of the latter is sometimes necessary. The condition 

 produced in this way closely resembles that in malignant O'dema, though 



