812 



MANUAL OF DETERMINATIVE BACTERIOLOGY 



61. Clostridium tertium (Henry) Ber- 

 gey et al. (Bacillus tertius Henry, Jour. 

 Path, and Bact., £1, 1916, 347; Henrillus 

 tertius Heller, Jour. Bact., 7, 1922, 5; 

 Bergey et al., Manual, 1st ed., 1923, 332; 

 Plectridium tertium Pr^vot, Ann. Inst. 

 Past., 61, 1938, 87.) From Latin tertius, 

 third. 



Probable synonyms : Bacillus gazogenes 

 parvus Choukevitch, Ann. Inst. Past., 25, 

 1911, 271 (Bacillus gazogenes Chouke- 

 vitch, ibid., 268; Plectridium gazogenes 

 Prevot, Ann. Inst. Past., 61, 1938, 87); 

 Bacillus Y, Fleming, Lancet, 2, 1915, 

 376; Bacillus aero-tertius Bulloch et al., 

 Med. Res. Counc, Spec. Kept. Ser. 39, 

 1919, 4 ; Bacillus spermoide Ninni, Patho- 

 logica, 21, 1920, 385 (Clostridium 

 spermoides Bergey et al.. Manual, 1st ed., 

 1923, 336; Palmula spermoides Prevot, 

 Ann. Inst. Past., 61, 1938, 88; Acuformis 

 spermoides Prevot, Man. d. Class., etc., 

 1940, 164). 



Rods : 0.4 to 0.6 by 3.0 to 6.0 microns, 

 occurring singly and in pairs, not in 

 chains. Motile. Spores oval, terminal, 

 swelling rods. Gram-positive. 



Gelatin : Not liquefied. 



Agar surface colonies (aerobic) : Circu- 

 lar with opalescent, crenated margin. 



Deep agar colonics: Small, lenticular, 

 regular, smooth. 



Agar slant (aerobic): Grayish, filmy, 

 opalescent growth. 



Blood agar is hemolyzed. 



Broth : Turbid, with sediment. 



Litmus milk: Acid, coagulated, with 

 some gas formation. Clot is not digested. 



Indole not formed. 



Nitrites produced from nitrates. 



Acid and gas from glucose, fructose, 

 galactose, mannose, lactose, maltose, 

 sucrose, arabinose, xylose, trehalose, 

 melezitose, soluble starch, esculin, man- 

 nitol, inositol and salicin. Inulin and 

 glycerol not fermented. 



Coagulated albumin not liquefied. 



Blood serum not liquefied. 



Brain medium not blackened or 

 digested. 



Meat medium reddened; acid and gas 



formed. Meat not blackened or digested. 

 Non-putrefactive. 



Non-pathogenic for guinea pig and 

 rabbit. 



Optimum temperature 30°C to 35°C. 

 Can grow at 50°C. 



Anaerobic and microaerophilic . Grows 

 feebly on aerobic agar slant. 



Source : From gangrenous wounds and 

 from feces. 



Habitat : Widely distributed in soil, 

 feces and sewage. 



Appendix I : The following species of 

 anaerobes are listed, chiefly for their 

 historic interest, from descriptions too 

 incomplete to permit present definite 

 cla.ssification. Many of these original 

 cultures are now lost, and the descriptions 

 are often too brief even to permit com- 

 parison with recognized species. Several 

 were described from cultures of doubtful 

 purity, and even the anaerobic status of 

 some is open to question. The syn- 

 onymy cited is not to be regarded as 

 definitely established in all instances. 



Many strains have been described by 

 number or by common names only. 

 These are not included here, but many 

 may be found listed in Les Microbes 

 Anaerobies, Weinberg, Nativelle and 

 Prevot, Paris, 1937, and in The Anaerobic 

 Bacteria and their Activities in Nature 

 and Disease, McCoy and McClung, Univ. 

 Calif. Press, 1939. 



Species are listed alphabetically under 

 the first valid binomial, regardless of 

 their original designation. 



Acuformis caninus Prevot. (Unnamed 

 species of Wolbach and Saiki, Jour. Med. 

 Res., 21, 1909, 267; Palmula canina 

 Prevot, Ann. Inst. Past., 61, 1938, 88; 

 Prevot, Man. d. Class., etc., 1940, 164.) 

 From liver of healthy dog. 



Acuformis dubitatus Prevot. (Species 

 No. 1 of Rodella, Cent. f. Bakt., II Abt., 

 17, 1907, 374; Palmula dubitata Pr(5vot, 

 Ann. Inst. Past., 61, 1938, 89; Prevot, 

 Mm. d. Class., etc., 1940, 165.) From 

 normal and from spoiled milk. 



