402 BACTERIA IN CROUPOUS PNEUMONIA. 
In a case of tonsillitis resulting in the formation of an abscess 
Gabbi (1889) obtained the same coccus in pure cultures. 
In otitis media this micrococcus has been found in a consider- 
able number of cases in the pus obtained by paracentesis of the 
tympanic membrane, and quite frequently in pure cultures—by Zau- 
fal (1889) in six cases; Levy and Schrader (1889) in three out of ten 
cases in which paracentesis was performed; by Netter (1889) in five 
out of eighteen cases occurring in children. 
Monti (1889) and Belfanti (1889) report cases of arthritis of the 
wrist joint, occurring as a complication of pneumonia, in which this 
micrococcus was obtained in pure cultures. Ortmann and Samter 
(1889), in a case of purulent inflammation of the shoulder joint fol- 
lowing pneumonia and pleurisy, obtained the “diplococcus pneu- 
moniz” in pure cultures. 
Morphology.—Spherical or oval cocci, usually united in pairs, or 
in chains consisting of three or four elements. Longer chains, con- 
taining ten or more elements, are frequently formed, especially in 
cultures upon the surface of nutrient agar, and in liquid media; it 
may therefore be regarded asa streptococcus. As observed in the 
blood of inoculated animals it is usually in pairs consisting of oval 
or lance-oval elements, which are surrounded by a transparent cap- 
sule. Owing to the elongated form of the cocci when in active 
growth, it has been regarded by some authors as a bacillus; but in 
cultures in liquid media, when development by binary division has 
ceased, the cells are spherical, or nearly so, and in cultures on the 
surface of nutrient agar the individual cells more nearly approach a 
spherical form than in the blood of an inoculated animal. The “lan- 
ceolate” form was first referred to by Tala- 
mon, who described it as having the form of 
a grain of wheat, or even still more elongated 
like a grain of barley, as seen in the fibrin- 
ous exudate of croupous pneumonia. The 
transparent material surrounding the cells— 
so-called capsule—is best seen in stained 
— preparations from the fibrinous exudate of 
Bi 9 a meray era croupous pneumonia or from the blood of an 
sule, attached to pus cells from inoculated animal. It appears as an un- 
ae avis stained marginal band surrounding the ellip- 
tical cells, and varies greatly as to its extent 
in different preparations. This capsule probably consists of a sub- 
stance resembling mucin, and, being soluble in water, its extent de- 
pends partly upon the methods employed in preparing specimens for 
microscopical examination. It is occasionally seen in stained prep- 
arations from the surface of cultures on blood serum; and in drop 
