THE IMMUNOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF COLOSTRUM : III. INTRANUCLEAR BODIES IN RENAL DISEASE OF CALVES

Renal lesions chiefly the result of obstructive processes were associated with intranuclear bodies in the epithelium of straight and convoluted tubules. In one animal these bodies were found in large numbers in otherwise still normal organs. The affected animals had been fed cow serum in place of colostrum

SOME CULTURAL CHARACTERS OF BACILLUS ABORTUS (BANG) WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO CO2 REQUIREMENTS

The relative absence of saprophytism in freshly isolated strains of Bacillus abortus is conveniently measured by inoculating a series of agar tubes with. successive dilutions of culture and sealing the tubes. The appearance of films of growth is delayed from 3 to 17 days and suppressed with the increase in the dilutions. As many as 100,000 bacteria per sq. cm. of agar surface are suppressed. When the confined air contains CO2 in a concentration as low as ¼ per cent and up to 10 per cent, the inhibition and suppression do not occur. Concentrations down to 0.1 per cent are still capable, even though in a slightly retarded manner, of bringing high dilutions into growth. In all cases the resulting growth was remarkably vigorous when compared with that in sealed tubes

A PLEOMORPHIC BACILLUS FROM PNEUMONIC LUNGS OF CALVES SIMULATING ACTINOMYCES

A bacillus was found associated in pure culture with an extensive lobar bronchopneumonia in calves. It occurs in the exudate as a minute bacillus in small groups. In cultures it appears in three forms: as a bacillus, as a coccus-like endospore or arthrospore, and as a conglomerate Actinomyces-like flake or colony with peripheral clubs. The bacillar and coccoid forms occur on agar, the Actinomyces form in the condensation water of coagulated serum (horse). The coccoid form is probably a spore state, the minute refringent spore being contained in a roundish, unstainable mass representing either the remnants of bacillar substance or some capsular material. The somewhat striking similarities between this organism and Actinomyces are expressed by the massed growth with terminal clubs, the bacillar and coccoid stages, all of which are characteristic of Actinomyces. Sealing the tubes is essential for multiplication. Cultures must be renewed within a few days, otherwise multiplication fails. The substance which forms the bulk of the radiate flocculi is probably of capsular nature, greatly overproduced in serum tubes and scarce or absent on agar. Its nature is unknown. The organism is not appreciably pathogenic when injected into certain small laboratory animals

A CHARACTERISTIC LOCALIZATION OF BACILLUS ABORTUS IN THE BOVINE FETAL MEMBRANES

The significance of this invasion of the chorionic epithelium from the standpoint of pathogene'sis cannot be properly evaluated until a more complete history of the successive localizations of Bacillus abortus has been obtained. It is safe to assume that this particular cell parasitism is but one of a series of localizations and centers of multiplication in the fetal membranes although evidence points to it as perhaps the earliest stage in which the organism gains by rapid, unchecked multiplication a considerable advantage over the host. The local destruction of an epithelial covering by an infectious agent when other miscellaneous infectious agents are absent may or may not be of much importance, for it would depend on the regenerative activity of the epithelium, the tendency to the gathering of injurious transudates, and the toxic substances associated with the bacilli. It is probable that localizations also occur in the walls of the blood vessels of the chorion. Thus far only one case of this kind has been observed. The fusiform connective tissue cells of the adventitious coat of a blood vessel 0.8 mm. in diameter were completely replaced by clumps of minute bacilli. Since there is usually a slight perivascular cell infiltration in the diseased placenta this localization may be largely responsible for the circulatory disturbances which lead to death of the fetus. The case referred to may be but a greatly exaggerated illustration of the action of Bacillus abortus in the walls of the blood vessels where they are too few in number at any one time to be identified. It is known, that in the guinea pig disease with pronounced lesions Bacillus abortus is demonstrated only with great difficulty because of its scarcity. The more or less specific localization and multiplication of bacteria within cells not having phagocytic functions have thus far been demonstrated in leprosy, syphilis, and in a disease of mice recently described by Tyzzer, who found an active invasion of both liver cells and intestinal epithelium by a bacillus. In cells to which phagocytic powers have been ascribed the specific localization of certain bacteria is well known. Thus tubercle bacilli occur within the endothelial cells of the tubercle. Leprosy bacilli have been found within a variety of cell groups. Mouse septicemia bacilli occur regularly within certain phagocytic cells of the blood. Recently bacteria have been found attached to the cilia of the respiratory tract in pertussis by Mallory and Hornor, in a form of guinea pig pneumonia by the writer. Actual occupation of epithelial cells followed by active multiplication of the invaders and destruction of the cell has, however, been frequently demonstrated for the sporozoa. That it may occur more often among bacteria is highly probable. Rapidity of multiplication and cell destruction or invisibility or both may stand in the way of a satisfactory demonstration

THE RELATION OF BACILLUS ABORTUS FROM BOVINE SOURCES TO MALTA FEVER

1. Comparative tests on guinea pigs with B. abortus yield the best results when minute doses are injected subcutaneously and the animal kept at least 4 weeks. 2. B. abortus gradually loses its virulence for guinea pigs under artificial cultivation. 3. Two cultures resembling B. abortus from cattle, isolated from human cases of so called Malta fever, are shown to be in their effect on guinea pigs not identical with the bovine strains. 4. The results of studies of B. abortus from swine indicate a close relation between the porcine strains and the two human strains

THE ETIOLOGICAL RELATION OF BACILLUS ACTINOIDES TO BRONCHOPNEUMONIA IN CALVES

A bronchopneumonia of calves in the early months of life is described and its etiology associated definitely with a minute bacillus, Bacillus actinoides. Bacillus pyogenes, Bacillus bovisepticus, and, less frequently, staphylococci and streptococci may appear later in the affected lungs. Subcutaneous injections of cultures of Bacillus actinoides produce large indurations ending in necrosis. Similarly intratracheal injections produce circumscribed necroses of lung tissue. The cultivation of Bacillus actinoides and its morphological peculiarities have been sufficiently described and illustrated in an earlier publication to ensure success on the part of those who attempt to isolate it