BUBONIC PLAGUE 137 



resemblance to B. influenzoe, but their place has 

 not yet been fully determined. 



An organism which appears to be identical with the 

 bacillus of influenza is found in whooping cough. 



The Koch-Weeks Bacillus. — This organism was 

 first observed by Koch in 1883 as the cause of the 

 eye inflammations so common in Egypt, and later 

 was recognized as the cause of the contagious form 

 of conjunctivitis, known all over the world. This 

 organism is slightly longer than the influenza bacillus, 

 and may be cultivated without the hemoglobin 

 medium, which are the only points of difference 

 yet observed. 



BUBONIC PLAGUE 



Bubonic plague, also known as Oriental plague, 

 bubonic pest, black death, and several other names, is 

 an acute, specific, transmissible disease which is 

 characterized by high fever and inflammation and 

 suppuration of the lymphatic glands known as bu- 

 boes, due to an organism known as Bacillus pestis. 

 Bubonic plague is usually attended by high mortal- 

 ity, which varies in different races and in different 

 epidemics. 



While the direct cause of bubonic plague is B. 

 pestis, the predisposing causes are overcrowding, 



