M YCOBA CTERIA CEM 



965 



FAMILY MYCOBACTERIACEiE Chester, 1901. 



Definition. — Eubacteriales with short or long cells, cylindrical 

 or filamentous, without a sheath, but often clavate, cuneate, or 

 irregular, and often with enclosed granules. 



Type GenuSc — Mycobacterium Lehmann and Neumann, 1896. 



Remarks. — Chester created this family to hold such forms as the 

 diphtheria germ, the tubercle bacillus, and the nocardias. 



The latter we classify with the Fungi Imperfecti, and probably the 

 other organisms, especially the tubercle bacillus, should join them; 

 nevertheless, for the time being, we keep them in Chester's 

 family. 



Mycobacterium becomes the only genus of the family, as Chester 

 included with it the Corynebacterium of Lehmann and Neumann. 



Genus Mycobacterium Lehmann and Neumann, 1896. 



Definition. — Mycobacteriaceae with the characters of the 

 family. 



Type Species. — Mycobacterium leprcB (Hansen, 1874). 

 Remarks. — From our point of view there are two divisions of the 

 genus which are of importance — viz : — 



A. Acid-fast when stained by Ziehl-Neelsen's method. 



B. Not acid-fast when stained by Ziehl-Neelsen's method. 



The former include the tubercle and the leprosy bacilli, which may 

 be distinguished by the latter being present in very large numbers 

 in the leprotic nodules, and being very resistant to decolourization, 

 while the former are but few in a cell and relatively easier to de- 

 colourize. Moreover, the leprosy bacillus can be readily stained by 

 Gram, while the tubercle is difficult to stain properly. 



The tubercle bacillus can be cultivated, but so far there is a doubt 

 as to the leprosy bacillus ever having been cultivated. 

 ^ The other group contains the diphtheria bacillus. The names of 

 these three organisms are: M. leprcB (Hansen, 1874) ; M. diphthericB 

 (Klebs, 1883) ; and M. tuberculosis (Koch, 1882). 



In addition the Mycobacterium malei (Loeffier, 1886) , the cause of 

 glanders, may be mentioned, as Whitmore has described a fever in 

 Rangoon characterized by broncho-pneumonic symptoms and often 

 multiple abscesses, which is due to a closely allied organism intro- 

 duced into the body while injecting morphine subcutaneously. 



REFERENCES. 



The current literature may be found in the Bull, for Trop. Diseases, and 

 in the Bulletin de VInstitut Pasteur. A very valuable general account of 

 anaerobe bacteria is given by Weinberg and Seguin in their recent monograph: 

 " Gangrene Gazeuse" (Masson and Co., Paris). 



Anaerobe Committee (1918). Demonstration of Anaerobes. London. 

 Archibald (1918). Lancet (Wesenberg and Alcaligenes). 



