720 



MANUAL OF DETERMINATIVE BACTEKIOLOGY 



tol, and adonitol (Stein, Vet. Med., 38, 

 1943). 



Acetylmethylcarbinol produced. 



Optimum temperature about 35°C. 

 Maximum temperature allowing growth 

 about 43°C. 



Aerobic, facultative. 



Pathogenic for man, cattle, swine, 

 sheep, rabbits, guinea pigs, mice, etc. 



Source : From blood of infected animals. 



Habitat. The cause of anthrax in man, 

 cattle, sheep and swine. 



9. Bacillus polymyxa (Prazmowski) 

 Migula. {Clostridium polymyxa Praz- 

 mowski, Inaug. Diss., Leipzig, 1880, 37; 

 Migula, Syst. der Bakt., 2, 1900; 638; 

 Granulobacter polymyxa Beijerinck, K. 

 Akad. Wetenschap., Amsterdam, Sec. 2, 

 1, 1903, No. 10; Granulobacter polymyxa 

 var. mucosu77i and var. tenax Beijerinck 

 and Van Del den. Cent. f. Bakt., II Abt., 

 9, 1902, 13; further description by Gru- 

 ber, Cent. f. Bakt., II Abt., U, 1905, 

 353; Aerobacillus polymyxa Donker, loc. 

 cit., 138.) From Greek poly, many or 

 much ; myxa, slime or mucus. 



This and the species immediately fol- 

 lowing {Bacillus macerans) are sometimes 

 placed in the sub-genus Aerobacillus 

 Donker emend. Kluyver and Van Neil 

 (Donker, Inaug. Diss., Delft, 1926, 138; 

 Kluyver and Van Neil, Cent. f. Bakt., II 

 Abt., 94, 1936, 402; not Aerobacillus 

 Pribram, Jour. Bact., 18, 1929, 374; not 

 Aerobacillus Janke, Cent. f. Bakt., II 

 Abt., SO, 1930,481). 



For a study of this group and a review 

 of the literature see Porter, McCleskey 

 and Levine, Jour. Bact., 33, 1937, 163. 

 They give the following as synonyms of 

 Bacillus polymyxa: Bacillus asterosporus 

 Migula {Astasia asterospora Meyer, 

 Flora, Erg. Bd., 84, 1897, 185; Migula, 

 Syst. der Bakt., 2, 1900, 528; Aerobacillus 

 asterospoj-us Donker, loc. cit., 141); 

 Bacillus ovoaethylicus Pribram {Bacillus 

 mycoides var. ovoaethylicus Wagner, 

 Ztschr. f. Untersuch. d. Nahrungs- u. 

 Genussmittel, 31, 1916, 234; Pribram, 

 Klassifikation der Schizomyceten, Leip- 



zig und Wien, 1933, 86); Bacillus aero- 

 sporus Greer, Jour. Inf. Dis., 4^, 1928, 

 508. 



Gottheil (Cent. f. Bakt., II Abt., 7, 

 1901, 727) regarded the following as syno- 

 nyms : Bacillus thalassophilus Russell, 

 Ztschr. f. Hyg., 11, 1892, 190; Bacillus 

 subanaerobius Migula, Syst. der Bakt., 

 2, 1900, 600. 



Bredemann (Cent. f. Bakt., II Abt., 

 23, 1909, 45) admitted that theorganisms, 

 Bacillus asterosporus alpha. Bacillus 

 dilaboides, and Bacillus clostridioides , 

 named by Haselhoff and himself in an 

 earlier article (Landwirtsch. Jahrb., 35, 

 1906, 420, 426, 432) were merely variants 

 of Bacillus asterosporus. 



The following is usually considered a 

 variety or strain of Bacillus polymyxa 

 differing from the latter mainly in the 

 production of a violet pigment on potato 

 and agar in the presence of peptone : 

 Bacillus violarius acetonicus Brdaudat, 

 Ann. Inst. Pasteur, 20, 1906, 874 {Aero- 

 bacillus violarius Donker, Inaug. Diss., 

 Delft, 1926, 141). 



Also a probable synonym of Bacillus 

 polymyxa is Bacillus amaracrylus Viose- 

 net (Bacille de I'amertume, Voisenet, 

 Compt. rend. Acad. Sci., Paris, 153, 

 1911, 363; Voisenet, Ann. Inst. Pasteur, 

 32, 1918, 477; Aerobacillus am,aracrylus 

 Donker, loc. cit., 141). The chief charac- 

 ter in which it differs from Bacillus 

 polymyxa is its ability to dehydrate 

 glycerol with the formation of acrolein. 



Also a probable variant of Bacillus 

 polymyxa is Bacillus pandora Corbet 

 (Jour. Bact., 19, 1930, 321). The chief 

 characters in which the latter differs from 

 the former are the production of acid 

 without gas from glucose and the lack of 

 diastatic action. 



Spores : Ellipsoidal, 1.0 to 1.5 by 1.5 to 

 2.5 microns, central to subterminal, wall 

 usually thick and stainable. Freely 

 formed. 



Sporangia: Swollen, spindle-shaped 

 (Clostridia), sometimes clavate. 



Rods : 0.6 to 1.0 by 2.5 to 6.0 microns, 



