BACILLUS BI FERMENT ANS 545 
Gelatin is slowly liquefied, and the liquefyinfj ^elatin during the 
earlier days of growth contains a soluble proteolytic enzyme which will 
induce liquefaction in carbol gelatin, increasing thereby the content 
of amino-acids (amino-nitrogen). According to the observations of 
Tissier and Martelly, indol, hydrogen sulphide, amines, leucin, tyrosin, 
fatty acids and ammonia are profluced from the putrefaction of protein 
by this organism. Milk is slowly coagulated, then peptonized; no gas 
is formed, however. Cooked meat is slowly disintegrated, a foul odor 
being e\'olved at the same time. A few gas bubbles form in the initial 
period of growth in this medium. Coagulated serum is also slowly and 
incompletely digested. 
Tissier and Martelly state that B. bifermentans saponifies fats; they 
are first hydrolyzed by a lipase secreted by the organism. 
Weinberg and Seguin^ have found that acid and gas are slowly 
formed from glucose, levulose and maltose. Lactose, saccharose, 
mannitol, dulcitol, inulin, and starch are unfermented. Tissier and 
Martelly found acetic and butyric acids, but no lactic acid among 
the products of fermentation. Acid was formed from glycerin. At 
least two authentic cultures, however, have been found to produce 
gas as well as acid in this medium.- A mucinous deposit accumulates 
in media containing utilizable carbohydrates. 
Toxin. A soluble poison has not been found among the products of 
growth of B. bifermentans. 
Conditions of Growth.— B. bifermentans is an obligate anaerobe, 
which grows readily upon all ordinary media. It is not fastidious in its 
requirements although enrichment of cultural media with utilizable 
carbohydrates or protein enchances materially its luxuriance of develop- 
ment. The limits of temperature between which the organism grows 
are 43° C. as a maximum and 18° C. as a minimum. The spores are 
moderately resistant to heat, and sur\-ive an exposure of about two 
minutes at 100° C. 
Pathogenesis.— The organism has l)een found in cultures from infected 
wounds and it is supposed to possess some pathogenicity in association 
with the Welch bacillus in infected tissues. Cultures have little or no 
efiect upon laboratory animals unless in association with the gas bacillus 
or Vibrion septique. 
Specific agglutinins are developed in laboratory animals in response 
to injections of B. bifermentans. These agglutinins are without eft'ect 
upon cultures of B. sporogenes.'' 
Bacteriological Diagnosis. — J/orpZ/o/of/,?/.— The mori)hology of B. 
bifermentans is not distinctive, although a rather large, thick bacillus, 
which is non-motile, and not prone to undergo degeneration, and to 
sporulate readily is somewhat characteristic. 
' La Gangrene Gazeusc, Paris, 1917. 
2 KendaU, Day and Walker: .Jour. Inf. Dis., 1922, 30, No. 2. 
^ W'einberg and Seguin: Loc cit. Tissier: Loc. cit. 
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