Bubonic plague: its course and symptoms and means of prevention and treatment / by Dr José Verdes Montenegro ; authorised translation by W. Munro.

  • Verdes Montenegro, José, 1865-
Date:
1900
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Bubonic plague: its course and symptoms and means of prevention and treatment / by Dr José Verdes Montenegro ; authorised translation by W. Munro. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    the enlargement being formed by little rods attached laterally. Cultivated in broth, they unite, forming clusters which adhere to the sides of the tube, showing an appear- ance very analogous to cultivations of streptococcus. At the end of some time the clusters are precipitated, the liquid remaining clear. Solidified serum and gelatine, with or without glycerine, are excellent cultivating media. The best medium appears to be the 2 per cent, alkaline solution of peptone with 1 to 2 per cent, of gelatine (Yersin). When the pulp from a bubo is sown in gelatine, white, transparent colonies with radiated borders develop. The conditions of resistance of the bacillus to external influences are not well known, and it is very rash to affirm, as some have done, that its vitality is not strong. In cultivations its virulence decreases rapidly, but it is easy to strengthen it anew. If the broth is subjected for an hour to the action of a temperature of 58° (1364° ¥.), the sowing of a particle of bacillus material remains sterile. The serum of a patient convalescent from the plague checks the development of the cultivations, and produces the phenomenon of agglutination. The agglutinating power of the serum is not manifested before the seventh day of the illness, and continues to increase until the second or third week of the convalescence. The action for a few minutes of a temperature of 100° (212° F.) destroys the bacillus. Chemical disinfectants, espe- cially the acids, have very great influence over it; it resists very slightly the action of a 1 per cent, solution of carbolic acid. It is very doubtful whether, as some assert, quick- lime in water, in the proportion of 1 to 100, destroys the bacillus rapidly enough, and it is more doubtful, however, whether air and the sun kill it rapidly. In special con- ditions the bacillus can retain its virulence for a long time;