MICKOSCOPICAL CHARACTERS 461 



temperature, suppression of urine, etc. These, taken in their 

 entirety, are indications of a general poisoning in which the 

 circulatory and thermo-regulatory mechanisms are specially 

 involved. In some, though rare, cases known as cholera sicca, 

 general collapse occurs with remarkable suddenness, and is 

 rapidly followed • by a fatal result, whilst there is little or no 

 evacuation from the bowel, though post mortem the intestine is 

 distended with fluid contents. As the characteristic organisms 

 in cholera are present mainly in the intestine, the general 

 disturbances are to be regarded as the result of toxic substances 

 absorbed from the 



-^~W \ 



bowel. It is also to be 



noted that cholera is a 



disease of which the ,q . -- . . 



onset and course are £ ^^^w.,? v £y i t r "* 





much more rapid than ''-CT2 ■ {&** y " // Sfe-fac 



is the case in most in 



fective diseases, such as f : ~ >"' ^ "{&'' tfV*-' "V 



typhoid and diphtheria ; | _• '*£■* ^Ti'", ?^? ) f -. 



and also that recovery, i >'** f* , *j ei* "JtXt.'jV''''" 



when it takes place, * "S"^ *srl» e*fj ^ ja ^V ^5 



does so more quickly. £t~" *> ^ *• *£d'-Jv*-&* jT*' 



The two factors to be ^$&L * C. Li^f 



correlated to these facts t _i ••Zi'^^Oit vP?* ^" 



are : (a) a rapid multi- ~^» ,» ^/ C \; \f 



plication of organisms, "' V^ ■.. /,»'* & r 



(b) the production of FlG _ 135 ._ cho i era 8pirillai from a cul t ure on 



rapidly acting toxins. agar of twenty-four hours' growth. 



The Cholera Spiril- Stained with weak carbol-fuchsin. x 1000. 



lum. — Microscopical 



Characters. — The cholera spirilla, as found in the intestines in 

 cholera, are small organisms measuring about 1*5 to 2 ^ in 

 length, and rather less than - 5 in thickness. They are distinctly 

 curved in one direction, hence the appearance of a comma 

 (Fig. 135) ; most occur singly, but some are attached in pairs 

 and curved in opposite directions, so that an S-shape results. 

 Longer forms are rarely seen in the intestine, but in cultures 

 in fluids, as may be well seen in hanging-drop preparations, 

 they may grow into spiral filaments, showing a large number 

 \ of turns. In film preparations made from the intestinal con- 

 sents in typical cases, these organisms are present in enormous 

 numbers in almost pure culture, most of the spirilla lying with 

 their long axes in the same direction, so as to give the appear- 

 ance which Koch compared to a number of fish in a stream. 



