194 APPLIED BACTERIOLOGY 



of Lustgarten, their discoveries have received very scant 

 confirmation. 



The disease bears such a close family resemblance to 

 tuberculosis, glanders and leprosy that we cannot but expect 

 that it will be ultimately established that it is due to a 

 specific bacillus. Lustgarten described his bacillus in the 

 year 1884 ; it is a slightly curved rod, somewhat smaller 

 than the tubercle bacillus. He found it in the primary sore 

 in syphilis. He does not appear to have succeeded in 

 growing it in artificial culture. 



The organism has been found by other observers in the 

 syphilitic gummata of the intestine and in mucous mem- 

 brane of the mouth. 



Method of Staining. — The bacillus of Lustgarten stains 

 with the usual basic aniline dyes, and also by Gram's 

 method. 



Lustgarten's method of staining is as follows : Sections 

 are placed in gentian-violet aniline-water for twelve to 

 twenty-four hours at the ordinary temperature of the room, 

 then for two hours at 40° C. The sections are transferred 

 to absolute alcohol for a few minutes, then placed for ten 

 seconds in 1"5 per cent, solution of permanganate of 

 potassium, and washed in sulphurous acid. If the ground- 

 substance of the sections is not completely decolourised, 

 the second part of the process must be repeated. After 

 this the sections are dehydrated, cleared, and mounted in 

 balsam. These bacilli, after staining by the Ziehl-Neelsen 

 method (unlike the tubercle bacilli), are easily decolourised 

 by mineral acids. 



In searching for the bacillus of Lustgarten in the 

 syphilitic lesions in congenital syphilis, several observers 

 have failed to find it, but have reported streptococci as well 

 as the capsulated diplococci of Disse and Tagucchi. 



Growth on Media. — Eve and Lingard reported in the year 



