162 APPLIED BACTERIOLOGY 



After twelve hours' incubating the tube is examined, and 

 if the streaks are found to show whitish colonies, many of 

 them separate from the actual • line of inoculation, and 

 presenting on staining the appearance of an immense 

 number of small short rods, slightly clubbed at the ends, 

 there is little doubt but that they are the true Klebs- 

 Loffler bacilli. 



Klein has described a pseudo-diphtheria bacillus of wide 

 distribution, which might be confused with the Klebs- 

 Loffler, but can be distinguished from it by growing the 

 two organisms on gelatine, when it will be found that the 

 pseudo-diphtheria bacillus grows much more slowly. Its 

 occurrence is, however, so rare that it is usually neglected. 



Dr. E. T. Hewlett and H. Nolan, of the British Institute 

 of Preventive Medicine, have published {British Medical 

 Journal, February 1, 1896) the results of the examination 

 of 1,000 tubes of Loffler's blood serum medium inoculated 

 from suspected cases of diphtheria. Of the 1,000 cases 

 examined, 587 were found to contain the diphtheria bacillus, 

 in 409 cases it was not found, and in 4 cases bacilli 

 were observed, as to the identity of which with the Klebs- 

 Loffler bacillus, or the distinction therefrom, they were 

 unable to satisfy themselves. Thus 58'7 per cent, of the 

 cases were true diphtheria. In 40' 9 per cent., or about 

 two-fifths, of the cases the diphtheria bacillus was not 

 found, and the majority of these were probably not diph- 

 theria. In 25 cases no growth appeared on the surface of 

 the blood serum. In 600 cases they kept notes as to the 

 other organisms present in the cultivations. In 216 cases 

 they found the Klebs-Loffler bacillus present alone, while 

 in 247 it was absent, and in the remaining 137 cases they 

 found the true diphtheria bacillus associated with other 

 organisms, micrococci, not streptococci, predominating. 



Messrs. Hewlett and Nolan also draw attention in their 



