FAMILY HAriLLACEAE 



717 



Bacillus pseudanthracis Kruse, in Fliigge, 

 Die Mikroorganismen, 3 Aufl., 2, 1896, 

 233; Bacterium pseudoanthracis Migula, 

 loc. cit., 282) ; Bacterium flexile Burchard, 

 Inaug. Diss., Karlsruhe, 1897 and Arb. 

 bakt. Inst. Karlsruhe, 3, 1898, 16; Bacil- 

 lus eUenhachi Savvamura, Tokyo Imp. 

 Univ. Coll. Agr. Bull. 7, 1906, 105; 

 Bacillus hoplosternus Paillot, Compt. 

 rend. Acad. Sci., Paris, 163, 1916, 772; 

 Bacillus fulminans Schrire and Green- 

 field, Trans. Roy. Soo. So. Africa, 17, 

 1929, 309. 



Spores: Ellipsoidal, average size 1.0 by 

 1.5 microns (considerable variation has 

 been noted by various writers), central or 

 paracentral, usually freely formed in 24 

 hours. Germination prevailingly polar. 



Sporangia: Ellipsoidal or cylindrical, 

 only slightly swollen, if at all. In short 

 to long chains. 



Rods: 1.0 to 1.2 by 3.0 to 5.0 microns, 

 occurring in long chains, ends square. 

 Cells appear granular or foamy if lightly 

 stained, especially if grown on glucose or 

 glycerol nutrient agar ; fat usually stored. 

 Smooth strains are motile with many 

 peritrichous flagella, rough strains weakh' 

 motile or non-motile. Gram-positive. 



Gelatin stab: Rapid liquefaction. 



Agar colonies : Large, flat, entire or 

 irregular, whitish with characteristic 

 appearance by transmitted light de- 

 scribed by various observers as ground 

 glass, moire silk, or galvanized iron. 

 All stages occur from the thin, spreading, 

 very rough and arborescent , to the smooth 

 dense form of colony. 



Agar slant: Growth abundant, usually 

 non-adherent, spreading, dense, whitish 

 to slightly yellowish. Old slants show 

 characteristic whip-like outgrowths. 

 Some strains produce a yellowish-green 

 fluorescence. 



Broth: Heavy uniform turbidity, with 

 or without a fragile pellicle. 



Milk: Rapid peptonization, with or 

 without slight coagulation. 



Blood serum: Partially liquefied. 

 Hemolysis on blood agar. 



Potato: Growth abundant, thick, soft, 

 creamy-white to pinkish, spreading over 

 the potato. Rough strains may be 

 folded and more pigmented. 



Nitrites usually produced from ni- 

 trates. 



Starch is hydrolyzcd. 



Acid (with ammoniacal nitrogen) from 

 glucose, fructose, maltose, dextrin, and 

 glycerol. Acid usually from sucrose and 

 salicin. Usually no acid from mannose 

 and lactose. No acid from arabinose, 

 rhamnose, xylose, raffinose, inulin, and 

 mannitol. 



Acetylmethylcarbinol produced. 



Citrates usually utilized as sole source 

 of carbon. 



Optimum temperature about 30°C. 

 Maximum temperature allowing growth 

 varies from 37°C to 48°C, usually about 

 43°C. 



Aerobic . 



Source: From soil, dust, milk, plants, 

 and as contaminant of media. 



Habitat : Widely distributed. Occurs 

 more often in soil than any other member 

 of the genus. See Chester, Del. Agr. 

 Exp. Station, 15th Ann. Report, 1903, 73; 

 Lawrence and Ford, Jour. Bact., 1, 1916, 

 284; Conn, N. Y. Exp. Station, Tech. 

 Bull. 58, 1917; Conn and Breed, Jour. 

 Bact., 4, 1919, 273; Soriano, Thesis, 

 LTniv. Buenos Aires, 1935, 569. 



Bacillus megatherium — Bacillus 

 cereus intermediates. 



According to Smith, Gordon, and Clark 

 {loc. cit.) intermediate forms occur be- 

 tween Bacillus megatherium and Bacillus 

 cereus which cannot be represented by a 

 distinct species. These intermediates 

 are characterized morphologically by the 

 early appearance on agar of shadow or dis- 

 torted forms, long filaments, and gen- 

 erally only a few spores. Fat globules 

 are smaller and less numerous. Physi- 

 ologically the group is erratic, showing a 

 progression of characters from Bacillus 

 megatherium on the one hand to Bacillus 

 cereus on the other. Acetylmethylcarbi- 



