CHAPTER XXXI. 
BACILLUS PYOCYANEUS (BACILLUS OF GREEN AND 
OF BLUE PUS) — BACILLUS PROTEUS VULGARIS 
—BACILLUS OF MALIGNANT (&DEMA—BACILLUS 
AEROGENES CAPSULATUS. 
BACILLUS PYOCYANEUS. 
Tae blue and green coloration which is occasionally 
found to accompany the purulent discharges from open 
wounds is usually due to the action of the bacillus 
pyocyaneus. According to recent investigations this 
bacillus appears to be very widely distributed. 
Morphology. Slender rods from 0.34 to 1 broad and 
from 2 to 64 long; frequently united in pairs or in 
chains of four to six elements; occasionally growing 
out into long filaments and twisted spirals. The bacil- 
lus is actively motile, a single flagellum being attached 
to one end. Does not form spores. Stains with the 
ordinary aniline colors; does not stain with Gram’s 
solution. 
Biological Characters. An aérobic, liquefying, motile 
bacillus. Capable also of an anaérobic existence, but 
then produces no pigment. Grows readily on all arti- 
ficial culture media at the room-temperature, though 
best at 387° C., and gives to some of them a bright 
green color in the presence of oxygen. In gelatin 
plate cultures the colonies are rapidly developed, 
imparting to the medium a fluorescent green color; 
liquefaction begins at the end of two or three days, 
