BACILLI IN CHRONIC INFECTIOUS DISEASES. 497 
bacillus. According to Eisenberg, the bacilli are two to three times as long 
as broad, and may grow out into filaments. 
These bacilli stain readily with the aniline colors and by Gram’s method. 
The capsule may be demonstrated by the methods usually employed in stain- 
ing Friedlander’s bacillus, or by the following method which is especially 
recommended by Alvarez: The excised portions of tissue involved in the dis- 
ease are placed for twenty-four hours in a one-per-cent solution of osmic 
acid and then in absolute alcohol. When properly hardened thin sections 
are made; these are stained in a hot solution of aniline-water-methyl-violet 
for a few minutes, and then decolorized, by Gram’s method, in iodine so- 
lution. 
Biological Characters.—An aérobic, non-motile, non-liquefying bacillus 
(facultative anaérobic ?). 
In gelatin stab cultures the growth resembles that of Friedlander’s ba- 
cillus—z.e., a nail-like growth, consisting of densely crowded, opaque colonies 
along the line of puncture, and a heaped-up, white, glistening mass upon the 
surface, hemispherical in form and viscous in consistence. Upon gelatin 
plates yellowish-white, spherical colonies are developed within two or three 
days, which under the microscope are seen to be granular. Upon potato a 
cream-like growth occurs along the line of inoculation, which is white or 
yellowish-white in color, and in which gas bubbles may be developed. De- 
velopment is most rapid at a temperature of 35° to 38°, but also occurs at the 
room temperature. 
Pathogenesis.—The etiological relation of this bacillus to the disease with 
which it is associated has not been established. It is pathogenic for mice 
and for guinea-pigs, less so for rabbits; in this regard, as in its morphology 
and growth in various culture media, it bears a close resemblance to Fried- 
lander’s bacillus, which is also found not infrequently in the nasal secretions 
of healthy persons and in those suffering from chronic nasal catarrh or ozzena. 
The principal points of difference, as pointed out by Baumgarten, are as 
follows: The bacillus of rhinoscleroma is usually more decidedly rod-shaped 
than Friedlander’s bacillus, although both may be of so short an oval as to 
resemble micrococci. The first-mentioned bacillus constantly presents the 
appearance of being surrounded by a transparent capsule, even in the cul- 
tures in artificial media, while Friedlander’s bacillus in such media does not 
usually present this appearance, unless as a result of special treatment. 
Finally, the bacillus of rhinoscleroma may retain its color, in part at least, 
when treated by Gram’s method, while Friedlander’s bacillus is completely 
decolorized when placed in the iodine solution employed in this method. 
Notwithstanding these points of difference, Baumgarten is not entirely 
satisfied that’ this bacillus is a distinct species, and several bacteriologists 
have maintained that it is identical with the bacillus of Friedlander. 
32 
