ACTINOMYCOSIS ii85 



ACTINOMYCOSIS. 



Organism first described by BoUinger— Commonly known as ' wooden 

 tongue ' — Morphology of the organism — Method of staining — Growths 

 on artificial media — Occurrence and distribution — Pathogenesis — 

 Appearance of the fungus in discharges—' Madura disease ' probably 

 identical. 



The actinomyces, or ray-fungus, was first described by 

 Bollinger in the year 1876, though its manifestation in 

 cattle, commonly known as ' wooden tongue,' was recog- 

 nised many years previously, and described by M. Laber. 



Morphology of the Organism. — The exact biological posi- 

 tion of this organism is still a matter of dispute, but most 

 authorities regard it as belonging to the class of higher 

 bacteria known as cladothrix or streptothrix. Three types 

 of the organism may be seen in the colonies as they grow 

 in the tissues — namely, filaments, cocci and clubs. The 

 filaments, which are best seen in cultures of the organism, 

 are very thin, measuring about 0*5 fj, thick, and are often 

 of great length. The central protoplasm is enclosed in a 

 sheath; the filaments, particularly in the centre of a 

 colony, interlace, forming a network. In older filaments 

 the protoplasm is seen to be broken up into coccoid bodies, 

 giving rise to an appearance like a streptococcus. The 

 cocci may break out from the sheath. These bodies are to 

 be regarded as spores, or, if the organism is a streptothrix, 

 as conidia. The club forms of the organism seen in sections 

 will be referred to later. 



Method of Staining. — The organism stains with the 

 ordinary' stains. To stain the actinomyces in sections, we 

 may either employ Gram's method or we may use carbol- 

 fuchsine and picric acid, thus staining the fungus red and 

 the tissue yellow. 



Growth on Media. — In artificial media the club shapes 

 are not found. The fungus grows well, and for almost an 



