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MANUAL OF DETERMINATIVE BACTERIOLOGY 



Compt. rend. Soc. Biol., Paris, 80, 1917, 

 850 (Bacille de I'oedeme gazeux malin, 

 Sacquep(5e, ibid., 78, 1915, 316; Clostri- 

 dium bellonensis Prevot, Ann. Inst. 

 Past., 61, 1938, 81); Bacillus gigas Zeiss- 

 ler and Rassfeld, Arch. Wiss. u. Prakt. 

 Tierhlk., 59, 1929, 419 {Clostridium novxji 

 Type B, Scott et al., loc. cit., 175; Clostri- 

 diiim gigas Prevot, Ann. Inst. Past., 61, 

 1938, 82); not Bacillus gigas Trevisan, 

 Atti. d. Accad. Fis. -Med. -Stat., Milano, 

 Ser. 4, 3, 1885, 96; Clostridium novyi 

 Type C, Scott et al., loc. cit., 175 (non- 

 pathogenic bacillus of osteomyelitis of 

 buffalo, Kraneveld, Nederl. Ind. Bl. 

 Diergeneesk., 4^, 193U, 564; Clostridium 

 bubalorum Prevot, Ann. Inst. Past., 61, 

 1938, 82; Bacillus osteomyelitis bubalorum 

 Prevot, Man. d. Class., etc., 1940, 123). 



Rods : 0.8 to 0.9 by 2.5 to 5.0 microns, 

 occurring singly and in pairs, not in 

 chains. Motile with peritrichousflagella. 

 Spores large, oval, subterminal, swelling 

 rods. Gram-positive. 



Gelatin : Liquefied and blackened. 



Agar surface colonies (anaerobic): 

 Small, white, with darker center, 

 filamentous. 



Agar slant (anaerobic): Grayish, 

 spreading growth. 



Deep agar colonies: Compact, opaque, 

 becoming filamentous with age. 



Broth: Turbid, with flocculent 

 sediment. 



Litmus inilk: Acid, not coagulated. 

 Litmus reduced. 



Acid and gas from glucose, fructose, 

 maltose, xylose, starch and glycerol. 

 Lactose, sucrose, mannitol, dulcitol, inu- 

 lin and salicin not fermented (Hall, Jour. 

 Inf. Dis., 30, 1922,491). 



Coagulated albumin not liquefied. 



Blood serum not liquefied. 



Brain medium not lilackened or 

 digested. 



Pathogenic for guinea pig, rabbit, 

 mouse, rat and pigeon. Forms an exo- 

 toxin, toxic on injection but not on 

 feeding growth. 



Optimum temperature 35°C to 38°C. 



Anaerobic. 



Source : From a guinea pig inoculated 

 with peptonized casein; later from gase- 

 ous gangrene. 



Habitat : Probably occurs in manured 

 soils. 



10. Clostridium botulinxun (Van 

 Ermengem) Holland. {Bacillus botu- 

 linus Van Ermengem, Cent. f. Bakt., I 

 Abt., 19, 1896, 443, and Ztschr. f. Hyg., 

 26, 1897,48; Holland, Jour. Bact., 5, 1920, 

 217; Ermengemillus botulinus Heller, 

 Jour. Bact., 7, 1922, 8.) From Latin, 

 botidus, sausage; M.L., botulinus, relating 

 to sausage. 



Clostridium botulinum comprises a 

 number of toxic species, conveniently 

 divided by Bengtson, U. S. Public Health 

 Serv., Hyg. Lab. Bull. 136, 1924, 33, and 

 by Meyer and Gunnison, Jour. Inf. Dis., 

 45, 1929, 96 and 108, and by Gunnison and 

 Meyer, Jour. Inf. Dis., 45, 1929, 130, into 

 a non-ovolytic {Clostridium botidinuvi) 

 and an ovolytic {Clostridium parabotuli- 

 nuvi) group. Authorities are not yet in 

 agreement on fermentations and on 

 variant sub-types, and the present group- 

 ings are only tentative, and subject to 

 revision. Meyer and Gunnison cite some 

 15 sub-types on the basis of toxicity, 

 agglutination and fermentation. 



The original Van Ermengem strain is 

 not available, and his description is 

 inadequate for classification purposes. 

 Description follows Bengtson {loc. cit.) 

 who used Lister Institute Strain No. 94 

 (Brit. Med. Res. Counc, Spec. Rept. 

 Ser. No. 12, 1917, 29; ibid.. Spec. Rept. 

 Ser. No. 39, 1919, 26) as a type culture. 



Rods: 0.5 to 0.8 by 3.0 to 8.0 microns, 

 with rounded ends, occurring singly, in 

 pairs and in short to occasional long 

 chains. Motile with peritrichous flagella. 

 Spores oval, central, subterminal, to 

 terminal at maturation, slightly swelling 

 rods. Gram-positive. 



Gelatin: Liquefied. 



Deep liver agar colonies : Fluffy with 

 dense center. 



Liver agar surface colonies (anaerobic) : 

 No perceptible growth. 



