PRINCIPLES OF VETERINARY SURGERY 123 



Description. — A short, thick bacillus. Motile. Flagellat- 

 ed. Non-sporogenous. Non-chromogenic. Nonliquefying. 

 Aerogenic. Aerobic and facultative anaerobic. Saprophytic 

 and occasionally pathogenic. Size i/* to 3/^ long by 0.4/^ to 

 o.']ii. thick. The bacilli are actively motile even in cultures 

 that are quite old. On the slide they are found in various 

 sizes. Some appear like cocci vi^hile others are considerably 

 elongated and present from four to twelve fiagella. They 

 are quite distinctly separated and may be seen in pairs here 

 and there at different points of the specimen. 



Ciiltivation. — The colon bacillus may be grown on any of 

 the ordinary media — gelatin, potato, agar-agar, milk, and 

 bouillon — preferably at the temperature of the body. 



Staining. — The bacillus will not take 'Gram's stain, but 

 can be stained with the aqueous solutions of the anilin dyes, 

 and methylene blue. 



Resistance. — It is killed by exposure to a heat of 140° 

 Fahr. for ten minutes, but is very resistant to chemical an- 

 tiseptics, especially carbolic acid. 



Pathogenicity. — Althaugh a harmless inhabitant of the 

 bowels under usual conditions, it is ever ready to enter into 

 lesions of the intestine and provoke suppurations. It was 

 once thought to be the specific micro-organism of appendi- 

 citis of the human being, but its pathogenicity in -this con- 

 nection seems to have been greatly over-estimated. In the 

 veterinary subjects, it is found to provoke suppuration in 

 the rectum, perineum and intestines. In the abscesses fol- 

 lowing proctitis, periproctitis and traumatic vaginitis, the 

 colon bacillus may often be found in large numbers. Ab- 

 scesses of the abdominal walls caused by paracentesis ab- 

 dominis are very frequently found to contain this pyogenic 

 agent in large numbers, having been inoculated into the 

 abdominal muscles bv the withdrawal of the canula. In 



