THE ACTINOMYCOSES 



2133 



Nocardia ^is/^fo^'t^^s possesses Gram-positive, acid, but not alcohol- 

 fast hyphse, which are without club-like enlargements. It pro- 

 duces restricted growths aerobically and usually anaerobically at 

 22° C. and 37° C, but nothing is stated in the literature we have 

 consulted with regard to any odour arising from these cultures. It 

 does not liquefy gelatine or blood serum, nor has it any diastatic 

 action. It reddens litmus milk, which later becomes alkaline, but is 

 not coagulated or cleared. It grows on the agars and on potato, 

 producing reddish (often brick red) growths. It is pathogenic for 

 monkeys, rabbits, and guinea-pigs. 



3. Nocardia liquefaciens. — This fungus was obtained by Hesse in 

 1892 from a man in Germany with a left inguinal abscess which com- 

 municated with the rectum. Subsequently other abscesses formed 

 on either side of the dorsal spine. The pus from these abscesses 

 discharged soft yellowish grains about the size of a millet seed, which 

 contained a Gram-positive fungus which did not possess clubs. 

 On cultivation it grew readily, and was found to be strictly aerobic. 

 In gelatine stabs it formed a nail-shaped growth, which at room 

 temperature in Europe was only visible on the third day, while 

 liquefaction, beginning on the fourth or fifth day, was complete by 

 the end of the week. The liquefied gelatine was not discoloured, 

 and if the growth stuck to the glass it was yellowish, with a whitish 

 covering. On blood serum it formed small cloudy granules of the 

 same colour as the medium, in twenty-four to forty-eight hours. 

 Liquefaction begins at the end of the first week and proceeds slowly, 

 the liquid remaining quite clear and colourless, and only after some 

 six months turning to a reddish-yellow colour. In broth it forms 

 delicate flakes which fall to the bottom of the tube, and consist of 

 a lower surface which is yellowish-white, and an upper surface which 

 is snow white. The medium remains quite clear. No surface 

 growth is mentioned. 



On agar the colonies at first form separate rosettes, which remain 

 distinct for a time. These colonies appear to resemble the gelatine 

 culture, being yellowish below and having a white envelope. The 

 growth on glycerine agar is more vigorous than on ordinary 

 agar. 



On potato it forms small yellow nodules by the second day, 

 which later become covered with a snow-white efiiorescence, which 

 does not alter. Apparently it was not grown on glucose agar, milk, 

 or eggs. Intravenous, intraperitoneal, and subcutaneous injections 

 into rabbits, guinea-pigs, and white mice were negative. 



Hesse gave it the name Cladothrix liquefaciens, which now becomes 

 Nocardia liquefaciens (Hesse, 1892), and it appears to be the same 

 organism as that named Streptothrix buccalis by Goadby in 1903, 

 and found by him in 1899 in the mouth in cases of pyorrhoea. 

 Goadby 's form showed clubs, or club-like swellings. It precipitated 

 the casein in milk, which became clear. 



4. Nocardia indica. — Kanthack, 1893, studying specimens of black 

 and yellow mycetoma which came from India, concluded that the 



