ERYSIPELAS 219 



ERYSIPELAS. 



Fehleisen's streptococcus — Growth on media— Method of staining — 

 Virulence is more rapidly lost in hroth than in solid media — 

 Occurrence and distribution — Pathogenesis — Exhibits varying degrees 

 of infectivity— The possible identity of the organism with the 

 Streptococcus pyogenes — Serum treatment of streptococcic infection 

 — Treatment of malignant growths by means of metabolic products 

 of growth of Streptococcus pyogenes — Practical disinfection. 



The Streptococcus erysipelatis was first described by 

 Fehleisen in the year 1883 ; it is found in great numbers 

 in the lymph channels of the skin in persons suffering from 

 erysipelas. By most observers it is believed to be identical 

 with the Streptococcus pyogenes, but it is more probable 

 that there is a group of streptococci which are exceedingly 

 alike in their microscopical and cultural characters. 



The streptococcus, whether in pure culture or in section, 

 can be stained by the ordinary aniline dyes, and also by 

 Gram's process. 



Growth on Media. — The organism grows in peptone-broth, 

 on gelatine, agar, or blood serum ; on potato the growth, if 

 any, is imperceptible. The organism grows equally well in 

 the presence or absence of oxygen. When grown in beef- 

 broth at 37° C, the medium becomes turbid in twenty-four 

 hours, and after some three or four days multiplication 

 ceases. Living organisms have, however, been found in the 

 sediment that collects at the bottom of the liquid after so long 

 a period as ninety days, and by recultivating a considerable 

 quantity of this sediment on to fresh media, new growths 

 have been obtained. The cessation of growth in broth after 

 three or four days is due more to the exhaustion of the 

 medium than to the formation of a metabolic product 

 injurious to the growth of the organism. This point is 

 proved by Louis Cobbett and W. S. Melsom in a valuable 



