THE STAPHYLOCOCCUS GROUP 299 
Toxins. ~y^o toxic i)r()(lucts lunc been detected in cultures of 
Micrococcus ovalis. 
Distribution.— The normal habitat of Micrococcus ovalis appears 
to be the up])er levels of the intestinal tract of man;^ it occurs in the 
meconium frecjuently,' and it is a constant inhabitant of the intestinal 
flora of artificially-fed infants; it also occurs commonly, but in lesser 
numbers, in the intestinal flora of the normal nursling. The organism 
has been repeatedly isolated from the feces of adults, and it has also 
been isolated from the intestinal tract of cattle.'' 
Pathogenesis.— Mar?.— Micrococcus ovalis is ordinarily a harmless 
parasite of the intestinal tract; occasionally it becomes invasive 
(usually secondarily) and produces various inflammations, accord- 
ing to the tissues invaded and its association M'ith other bacteria. 
Lewkowicz* isolated organisms he identified as IMicrococcus ovalis in 
nearly pure culture from three cases of severe dysentery; the organisms 
were found to be capsulated and resembled pneumococci in a striking 
manner. Jouhaud/ Thiercelin,*' Ramonovitsch,^ and Gilbert and 
Lippman^ have isolated the organism either in pure culture or in 
association with other bacteria from cases of cholecystitis, puerperal 
fever, appendicitis, various intestinal inflammations, and even from the 
cerebrospinal canal in cases of meningitis. The close resemblance of 
the organism to the pneumococcus, which has been observed by Kruse,^ 
Sittler^" and others, has doubtless led to confusion; many cases of 
"pneumococcus" infection of the stomach, gall-bladder, appendix 
and other intestinal adnexa are probably infections with INIicrococcus 
ovalis, and rice versa. 
Animal.— Wilhehm^^ has isolated IVIicrococcus ovalis from enteritides 
of young cattle; Lewkowicz^- has found the organism isolated directly 
from human inflammations to be pathogenic for white mice. It 
exhibits no pathogenicity as it occurs normally in the intestinal tract.'"' 
Bacteriological Diagnosis. — 1. Microscopic— The presence of con- 
siderable numbers of diplococci in the feces with theu- approximated 
ends slightly flattened, their distal ends somewhat pointed, staining 
intensely with the Gram stain, is frequently sufficient evidence to 
establish a tentative diagnosis of Micrococcus ovalis. 
1 Kendall and Haner: Jour. Inf. Dis., 1924, 35, G7. 
2 Escherich: Loc. cit. 
3 W'ilhelmi: Landwirthschaft, Jahrb. f. Schweiz., 1899, vol. 13. 
" Centralbl. f. Bakteriol., 1901, 29, 635. 
5 Th^se de Paris, 1903. 
6 Compt. rend. Soc. de biol., 1902, 54, 1082; 1908, 64, 76. 
" Ibid., 1911, 70, 122. 
8 Ibid., 1902, 54, 718, 989, 1189. 
9 Centralbl. f. Bakteriol., orig., 1903, 34, 737. 
1° Die wichtigsten BakterientyiJen der Darmflora beim Siiuglinge, u. s. w., Wurzburg, 
1909. 
" Landwirtschaftl. Jahrb. f. Schweiz., 1899, vol. 13. 
12 Loc. cit. 
13 Thiercelin: Th^se de Paris, 1894; Compt. rend. Soc. de biol., 1899, 51, 269. Jou- 
haud: Th^se de Paris, 1903. 
