GONORRHCEA 189 



Loffler's methylene blue, and is decolourised by Gram's 

 method, which serves to distinguish it from certain other 

 diplococci that occur in gonorrhcsal pus, but not from all. 



Growth on Media. — Bumm succeeded in growing the gono- 

 coccus on human blood serum, while other observers report 

 good results on blood serum agar, blood serum gelatine, 

 plover egg albumin, etc. The best results seem to have 

 been obtained by Wertheim, who prefers a mixture of two 

 parts of glycerine agar and one part of human blood serum ; 

 on this medium he obtained well-defined growths in so short 

 a time as twenty-four hours after inoculation. A pure 

 culture of the gonococcus assumes a raised appearance 

 similar to a mulberry, and is of a yellowish-white colour. 

 It is necessary to subculture every three days, or the vitality 

 is lost. 



Occurrence and Pathogenesis. — Gonorrhoea is known 

 throughout the whole of the globe, and the specificity of 

 the diplococcus of Neisser is fully admitted ; its specificity 

 -has been fully demonstrated by Bumm, who, after obtaining 

 pure cultures from gonorrhceal pus, cultivated the organism 

 through twenty successive generations, and then introduced 

 it into the urethra of healthy men with positive results. In 

 gonorrhoea the pus may contain gonococci in pure culture 

 during the first few days, but later on staphylococci and 

 streptococci will probably be found. The gonococci them- 

 selves are peculiar in being most frequently found in the 

 pus - cells. Bosc mentions as many as fourteen other 

 organisms besides the commoner staphylococci (nine of 

 them being diplococci) which occur in the pus, and has 

 published a table by the aid of which their identity may 

 be established. After the acute stage of gonorrhoea has 

 passed, and there is no longer any considerable flow of 

 pus, the gleet that follows may still contain the gonococcus, 

 and so long as there are any floating pus filaments to be 



