770 



MANUAL OF DETERMINATIVE BACTERIOLOGY 



II. Microaerophilic. Grow customarily as anaerobes, but are able to produce scan 

 sometimes atypical, growth on aerobic agar slants. 

 A. Not typically fermenters of cellulose. 



1. Do not characteristically produce distinctive pigments. 



a. Spores central, excentric, to subterminal. Spores oval. Rods dig 

 tinctly swollen at sporulation. 



59. Clostridium carnis. 

 ee. Gelatin, or glucose gelatin, liquefied. 



f . Carbohydrates not fermented. 



60. Clostridium, histolyticum. 



aa. Spores terminal. Spores distinctly oval to ellipsoid. Rods distinctly 

 swollen at sporulation. 



61. Clostridium tertium. 



1 . Clostridium butyricum Prazmowski . 

 (Untersuch. ii. d. Entwickelungsgesch- 

 ischte ii. Fermentwirk. einiger Bacterien- 

 Arten, Inaug. Diss., Leipzig, 1880, 23; 

 Bacillus butyricus Fliigge, Die Mikroorg., 

 2 Aufl., 1886, 296.) From M. L., acidum 

 butyricum, butyric acid. 



Described from the original incom- 

 plete records of Prazmowski, as amplified 

 by the studies of Adamson, Jour. Path, 

 and Bact., 22, 1919, 371, and of Hall, 

 Jour. Inf. Dis., SO, 1922,467. 



Rods : 0.7 by 5.0 to 7.0 microns, straight 

 or slightly curved, with rounded ends, 

 occurring singly, in pairs, in short chains 

 and occasional long filaments. Motile. 

 Spores oval, excentric to subterminal, 

 swelling rods to clostridial forms. Gram- 

 positive, becoming Gram-negative. 



Granulose positive in clostridial stage 

 (blue color with iodine). 



Gelatin and glucose gelatin : Not 

 liquefied. 



Plain agar slant (anaerobic) : Little or 

 no growth. 



Glucose agar surface colonies (anaero- 

 bic): Circular or slightly irregular, 

 slightly raised, moist, creamy-white. 



Deep glucose agar colonies : Biconvex, 

 dense, yellowish-white, entire. Agar 

 fragmented early by abundant gas. 



Blood agar not hemolyzed. 



Plain broth : Little or no growth. 



Glucose broth : Abundant, diffuse tur- 

 bidity; much gas. 



Litmus milk: Acid and early coagula- 

 tion. Litmus is reduced. Stormy fer- 



mentation; clot fragmented but not 

 digested. 



Indole not formed. 



Nitrites not produced from nitrates. 



Fixes atmospheric nitrogen. 



Acid and gas from xylose, glucose, lac- 

 tose, sucrose, starch, salicin, esculin and 

 mannitol. Amygdalin, pectin, cellulose, 

 glycerol and Ca-lactate not fermented. 



Fermentation products include butyl, 

 ethyl and iso-propyl alcohols, acetone, 

 organic acids, H2 and CO2. 



Coagulated albumin not liquefied. 



Blood serum not liquefied. 



Brain medium not blackened or di- 

 gested. 



Non-pathogenic for guinea pig and 

 rabbit. 



Grows well from 30°C to 37°C. 



Anaerobic. 



Source : Originally isolated from cheese. 

 Commonly encountered in naturally 

 soured milk, in naturally fermented 

 starchy plant substances and in soil. 



Habitat : Probably rather widely dis- 

 persed in soils rich in humus. 



Note : Many butyric acid-producing 

 anaerobes are recorded in the literature. 

 The questionable purity and the incom- 

 plete descriptions, particularly of the 

 older species, make it difficult to deter- 

 mine the degree of relationship of these 

 species to Clostridium butyricum Praz- 

 mowski. The following list cites the 

 outstanding historic or recently de- 

 scribed species. 



