cells. Motile by means of peritrichous fla- gella. Gram-negative. Iron-gelatin (Spray) : No growth. Plain agar deep: No growth. Uric acid agar deep colonies: Whitish, compact, lobate, 1 to 2 mm in diameter, with irregular edges, surrounded by a zone of precipitated ammonium ureate which gradually disappears. Plain broth: No growth. Glucose broth: No growth. Iron-milk (Spray): No growth. Indole production not recorded (probably negative) . Glucose and other carbohydrates not fermented. Cellulose not fermented. Nitrite production not recorded (probably negative). Coagulated albumin: No liquefaction. Blood serum: No liquefaction. Brain medium: No digestion or blacken- ing. Anaerobic. Optimum temperature, about 35° C. Optimum reaction, about pH 7.5; lower limit for growth, pH 6.5. Distinctive characters: Requires uric acid or certain other purines as a primary source of carbon and energy. The purines are converted into ammonia, CO 2 , acetic acid and a little glycine. This organism is physiologically similar to Clostridium acidi- urici but may be readily distinguished from the latter by its morphology. Source: A single strain was isolated from soil. Habitat: Probably soil, although only this single isolation is recorded. 42. Clos iridium perfringeiis (Veillon and Zuber, 1898) Holland, 1920.* Clostridium perfringens Type A, Spray, 1948. (Bacillus aerogenes cnpsulatus Welch and Nuttall, Johns Hopkins Hosp. Bull. 3, 1892, 81 ; Bacil- lus phlegmones emphysematosae Fraenkel, Ueber Gasphlegmonen, Leipzig, 1893, 47; Bacillus emphysematosus Kruse, in Fliigge, Die Mikroorganismen, 3 Aufl., 2, 1896, 242: Bacillus perfringens Veillon and Zuber, Arch. M^d. Exp. et Anat. Path., 10, 1898, 539; Holland, Jour. Bact., 5, 1920, 219; Clos- tridium welchii Holland, ibid., 221; Bacillus welchii Type A, Wilsdon, Univ. Cambridge, Inst. Animal Path., 2nd Rept. of Dir., 1931, 72; Spray, in Manual, 6th ed., 1948, 789.) per. frin 'gens. L. part. adj. perfringens breaking through. Short, thick rods, 1.0 to 1.5 by 4.0 to 8.0 microns, occurring singly and in pairs, less frequently in short chains. Spores ovoid, central to eccentric, not swelling the cells. Encapsulated. Non-motile. Gram-positive. Gelatin: Liquefaction and blackening. Agar surface colonies (anaerobic) : Circu- lar, moist, slightly raised, opaque center, entire. Egg yolk agar surface colonies: Circular to somewhat irregular, smooth (rough var- iants excepted) , surrounded by a wide zone of opaque precipitate without luster over colony or zone. The reaction is given by all colony types, although there is some varia- tion in the size of the zone of precipitation. Broth: Turbid; peptolytic. Clearing with viscid sediment. Litmus milk: Acid; coagulated. Clot torn with profuse gas production but not di- gested. Potato: Thin, grayish white streak; gas in subtended liquid. Indole not produced. Acid and gas from glucose, fructose, galac- tose, mannose, maltose, lactose, sucrose, xylose, trehalose, raffinose, starch, glycogen and inositol. Salicin rarely fermented. Man- nitol not fermented. Action on glycerol and inulin variable. Nitrites produced from nitrates. Atmospheric nitrogen not fixed (Rosen- blum and Wilson, Jour. Bact., 57, 1949, 413). Coagulated albumin: No liquefaction. Blood serum: No liquefaction. Brain medium: No blackening or diges- tion. Egg-meat medium: Profuse gas produc-
- Because of use of the specific epithet perfringens by the Permanent Standards Com-
mission of the Health Organization of the League of Nations (Report of the Permanent Commission on Biological Standardization, London, June 23, 1931), the use of this epithet has been continued, although it is antedated by a valid binomial (Bacillus emphysematosus Kruse) .
