2. Selenonionas sputigena (Fliigge, 1886, emend. Muhlens, 1909) Dobell, 1932. (Spirillum sputigenum Fliigge, Die Mikro- organismen, 2 Aufl., 1886, 387; Muhlens, Cent. f. Bakt., I Abt., Orig., 48, 1909, 524; Selenomonas sputigena Boskamp (nomen provisorium) , Cent. f. Bakt., I Abt., Orig., 88, 1922, 70; Dobell, Antony van Leeuwen- hoek and His "Little Animals". New York, 1932, 239, plate XXIV, and 245, footnote 2; Vibrio sputigenus Pr^vot, Man. de Classif. des Bact. Anaer., Paris, 1« ed., 1940, 85; not Vibrio sputigenus Bergey et al., Manual, 1st ed., 1923, 80.) spu.ti'ge.na. L. noun sputum spit, spu- tum; L. V. gigno to produce; M.L. adj. sputigenus sputum-produced. Description taken from Muhlens (op. cit., 1909, 524). Also see Hoffmann and von Pro- wazek (Cent. f. Bakt., I Abt., Orig., 4i , 1906, 820), von Prowazek (ibid., 70, 1913, 36) and Macdonald (Thesis, Univ. of Toronto, 1953,95 pp.). Comma- and crescent-shaped cells, thicker and longer than the cholera vibrio, occasionally occurring in pairs in the form of an S. Motility is vibratory, rotating, whirling and boring in nature. Dobell (op. cit., 1932, 245) feels that the type of motility depicted in Leeuwenhoek's drawing (ibid., 239, plate XXIV, Fig. B, with motion shown in C to D) is so characteristic of Spirillum sputigenum that the organism labelled Fig. B by Leeuwenhoek is, in all probability. Spirillum sputigenum Miller. Hoffmann and von Prowazek {op. cit., 1906, 820) describe this organism as a crescent-shaped rod with a thick flagellum that appears to be attached on the concave side. Muhlens {op. cit., 1909, 525) reports 1 to 3 flagella, the majority of the organisms having a single thick flagel- lum (a tuft of flagella) on the concave side. Von Prowazek {op. cit., 1913, 36) later shows excellent figures of these thick flagella treated with Giemsa's stain. These figures show that the thick flagellum is really a tuft of flagella which may separate like the bristles of a paint brush. Stains pale red with Giemsa's stain. Horse-serum agar stab: Fine, hazy colonies develop in the low portions. Growth begins in 1 to 3 days as fine, cloudy colonies with somewhat thicker, yellowish centers and increases to a thick streak, opaque in the center and cloudy-transparent at the edges. Kutscher's placenta agar: Good growth. Anaerobic growth in the lower two-thirds of stab and shake cultures. No visible gas produced. Serum broth: No growth. The following characters are from Mac- donald {op. cit. 1953) : Blood agar: Growth occurred only when plates were reduced immediately after streaking. Colonies were smooth, convex, grayish yellow, and less than 0.5 mm in diameter. Difco thioglycollate broth: Growth heavy and granular in 48 hrs. The best fluid me- dium in which to maintain cultures. Difco thioglj'coUate agar shake cultures: Irregularly shaped, yellow colonies. Litmus milk: Acid and coagulated. Acid from glucose and sucrose. Slight acid from mannitol. Indole not produced. Hydrogen sulfide not produced. Nitrites produced from nitrates. Optimum temperature, 37°C. Growth range, from 20° to 45° C. The pH range for growth is 4.5 to 8.6 with the best growth between 5.5 and 8.6. Not pathogenic for guinea pigs injected subcutaneously or intracardially, nor for mice injected intraperitoneally. Distinctive characters: Early investiga- tors described an organism of this type but were unable to culture it, e.g. Lewis (Lancet, Sept. 20, 1884, who regarded the organism he found as identical with the cholera vibrio) and Miller (The Microorganisms of the Human Mouth, Philadelphia, 1890, 75) ; Miller also gives an excellent discussion of the early work. Muhlens {op. cit., 1909, 526) described a variety of this species with smaller cells. While Macdonald describes this species as peritrichous, he reports (personal com- munication) that others have felt that his electron micrographs could be interpreted as showing a cluster of flagella attached at the middle of the concave side of the cres- cent-shaped cells, and that in dark field examination he observed, as had earlier workers, a single heavy flagellum attached
