462 HEMOGLOBINOPHILIC BACILLI 
Pathogenesis.— Attempts to reproduce the characteristic subacute 
conjunctivitis in experimental animals have utterly failed. In man 
the typical disease is a subacute catarrhal conjimctivitis with com- 
paratively little pus formation, differing in this respect sharply from 
the acute conjunctivitis which is produced by the Koch- Weeks bacil- 
lus. The angles of the eye are inflamed, particularly the caruncles. 
The organisms are best detected in the secretion with collects during 
the night. They occur both in pus cells and free, frequently in con- 
siderable numbers. Morax appears to have reproduced the essential 
lesions by inoculating a drop of culture upon a healthy conjunctiva. 
Erdmanni states that apparently healthy individuals may harbor the 
Morax-Axenfeld bacillus within the nasal cavity for some time without 
involvement of the eye. The organism may be isolated in such 
instances from the nasal mucus. 
THE BACILLUS OF DUCREY. 
The soft chancre, chancroid, or soft sore must be sharply differen- 
tiated from the hard chancre with which it has nothing in common. 
The soft chancre is a non-specific, ulcerating sore common to both 
sexes, particularly among the unclean. It begins as a small red spot 
which rapidly develops into a pustule. This pustule soon breaks down, 
leaving a spreading ulcer in which necrosis is a prominent feature. 
The ulcer spreads with considerable rapidity and is difficult to control. 
The adjacent and regional lymph glands usually become involved 
and they soon soften and ulcerate. 
Ducrey- first called attention to a bacillus (which bears his name), 
which he found regularly in chancroids. In 1900 Besan^on, Griffon 
and LeSourd^ succeeded in growing the organism in pure culture upon 
blood agar. The organism is often referred to as the Streptobacillus 
of Ducrey. 
Morphology. —The bacillus of Ducrey is a small bacillus, measauring 
about 0.5 micron in diameter and from 1 to 2 microns in length. It 
occurs characteristically both in chancroids and in culture in chains 
of considerable length. Frequently these streptobacilli are found in 
dense masses. The distinctive arrangement in chains appears to be 
lost as the infected tissue softens and ulcerates; here the bacilli occur 
singly or in pairs, showing a tendency toward degeneration. The 
organism stains with ordinary anilin dyes; usually the stain is more 
intense at the ends of the rod, the center being nearly devoid of 
color. This gives the organism a diplococcoid appearance. It is 
Gram-negati\'e. 
Isolation and Culture. The Ducrey l)acillus does not grow upon 
onhnary media, but cultures may be obtained by the method of 
1 Klin. Monatsbl. f. Augenheilk., 1905, 43, 501. 
2 Monatschr. f. prakt. Dermat., 18S9, 9, No. 9. 
3 Gaz. des Hop., 1900, No. 14; Ann. dc Dermat. ct Syph., 1901, 2, 1. 
