Studies in spirillum obermeierei and related organisms / Frederick G. Novy and R.E. Knapp.

  • Frederick George Novy
Date:
[1906?]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Studies in spirillum obermeierei and related organisms / Frederick G. Novy and R.E. Knapp. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    will show some actively motile individuals together with many unaltered motionless forms. The foregoing experiments go to show that dialysis in running distilled water, with the aid of thin collodium sacs, brings out marked differences between the known protozoa and known bacteria. Just how far this difference in behavior will hold true for other repre- sentatives of these groups remains to be established by further exper- iment. It is quite possible that this reaction will be found to be a fairly general means of distinguishing between protozoa and bac- teria. In this particular case it certainly proves that Sp. Obermeieri dif- fers markedly from trypanosomes, so much so that there can be no question but that it is wholly distinct from the latter. Moreover, the close similarity in the behavior of the spirochete under these conditions to the typical spiral bacteria strengthens the evidence, if it does not actually prove, that this organism belongs among the bacteria and not among the flagellated protozoa. 6. Action of heat.—Comparative determinations of the thermal death-point of the spirochete and of Tr. Lewisi were made to ascer- tain if there was any notable difference in this regard between the two types. The defibrinated blood of infected rats was used direct, that is, without dilution. This was taken up in drawn-out, thin- walled tubes about 3 mm. in diameter. The sealed tubes were then immersed in a water-bath, the temperature of which was kept constant at 450, 50°, and 6o°. In the case of Tr. Lewisi an exposure of five minutes at 6o° was sufficient to cause the complete destruction, and even the disappear- ance, of the trypanosomes. After an exposure of five minutes at 50° the trypanosomes were all dead and scarcely recognizable, the bodies being shrunken, rounded up, and granular. In 10 minutes not even dead trypanosomes could be detected. At 450 the trypanosomes were hyperactive at the end of five minutes; at the end of 15 minutes only a few sluggish trypanosomes were present together with many distorted dead forms. At the end of 30 minutes the trypanosomes had entirely disappeared. The spirochetal blood, drawn during the decline stage, was tested at the same time, side by side with the trypanosome blood. In five minutes at 6o° only agglutinated masses of non-motile spirochetes
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