542 PATHOGENIC AEROBIC BACILLI 
The mode of death in rabbits is quite characteristic. A couple of hours 
after receiving in the cavity of the abdomen two or three cubic centimetres. 
of a liquefied gelatin culture the animal becomes quiet and indisposed to eat 
or move about. Soon after it becomes somnolent, the head drooping for- 
ward and after a time resting between the front legs, with the nose on the 
floor of its cage. Itcan be roused from this condition, and raises its head in 
an indifferent and stupid way when pushed or shaken, but soon drops off 
again into a profound sleep. Frequently the animals die in a sitting posi- 
tion, with their nose resting upon the floor of the cage between the front 
legs. I have not seen this lethargic condition produced by inoculations with 
ae oe microédrganism. Convulsions sometimes occur at the moment of 
eath, 
The time of death depends upon the potency of the culture and its quan- 
tity as compared with the size of the animal. From three to four cubie 
centimetres of a liquefied gelatin culture usually kill a rabbit in from three 
to seven hours. : 
The rapidity with which death occurs when a considerable quantity of a 
liquefied gelatin culture is injected into the cavity of the abdomen, and the 
somnolence which precedes death, give rise to the supposition that the lethal 
effect is due to the presence of a toxic chemical substance rather than toa 
multiplication of the bacillus in the body of the animal. And this view is 
supported by the fact that animals frequently recover when the dose admin- 
seipred is comparatively small and especially when it is injected subcuta- 
neously. 
In all cases in which death occurs, even when but a few hours have 
elapsed since the inoculation was made, I have recovered the bacillus in 
cultures made from blood obtained from the heart or the interior of the 
liver, and, as stated, these cultures appear to have a greater virulence than 
those not passed through tke rabbit. 
In sections of the liver and kidney stained with Léffler’s solution of 
methylene blue the bacilli are seen, and are often in rather long-jointed fil- 
aments, 
BACILLUS PYOCYANEUS. 
Synonyms.—Bacillus of green pus ; Microbe du pus bleu; Bacil- 
len des griinblauen Eiters; Bacterium aéruginosum. 
Obtained by Gessard (1882) from pus having a green or blue 
color, and since carefully studied by Gessard, Charrin, and others. 
This bacillus appears to be a widely distributed 
®, (gy saprophyte, which is found occasionally in the 
purulent discharges from open wounds, and some- 
times in perspiration and serous wound secretions 
(Gessard). The writer obtained it, in oneinstance, 
Fie. 153,—Bacillus in cultures from the liver of a yellow-fever cada- 
triers) * 700. ver (Havana, 1888), 
Morphology.—A slender bacillus with rounded 
ends, somewhat thicker than the Bacillus murisepticus and of about 
the same length (Fligge); frequently united in pairs, or chains of four 
to six elements; occasionally grows out into filaments, 
Biological Characters.—An aérobic, liquefying, motile bacil- 
lus. Grows readily in various culture media at the room tempera- 
ture—more rapidly in the incubating oven. Is a facultative anaé- 
ne 
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