26 



Scientific Proceedings (30). 



13 (351) 



Successful canine infection with cultures of Leishmania 

 infantum (Oh. NicoUe). 



By P. G. NOVY. 



\^Fro7n the Hygienic Laboratory, University of Michigan, 

 Ann Arbor, Mich."] 



By the collective term Leishmaniasis we may designate three 

 apparently distinct diseases (i) Kala-azaror tropical splenomegaly 

 of India and the East ; (2) Oriental sore, otherwise known as 

 Delhi, Biskra, Aleppo, etc., boil ; and (3) infantile splenic anemia. 

 These are characterized by the presence of peculiar intracellular 

 parasites commonly known as the Leishman-Donovan bodies. The 

 work of Rogers and others has shown that the parasite of Kala- 

 azar develops in a citrate solution, into flagellate or trypanosome- 

 like organisms, but attempts at cultivation on blood agar have 

 given negative results. The recent investigations of Ch. Nicolle 

 on the parasites of Oriental sore and of infantile splenic anemia 

 establish the important fact that the Leishman bodies found in these 

 two diseases can be cultivated on blood agar with the same ease 

 as in the case of many trypanosomes. Nicolle has further shown 

 that the infantile splenic anemia can be transmitted to dogs and 

 monkeys by injection of suspensions of the diseased tissues, but 

 attempts to produce an infection by inoculation of the cultures 

 of the flagellate failed. 



Having received through the courtesy of M. Mesnil, of the 

 Pasteur Institute, transplants of the eighth generation of Nicolle's 

 flagellate, it was decided, first of all, to test in a severe way the 

 question as to the possibility of inducing an experimental infection 

 in animals by means of such cultures. Accordingly a dog was 

 given, in the interval from April 13 to Sept. 21, fifteen intraperi- 

 toneal injections of fresh vigorous cultures. The organism was 

 grown on blood-agar at 20°, and for each inoculation the growth 

 from a large number of tubes (8-40) was taken up in citrate solu- 

 tion and injected. A total of 270 cultures were thus utilized in 

 the course of five months. The dog apparently showed no effect, 

 other than occasional leucocytosis, and microscopic examination of 

 the peripheral blood gave negative results. 



