Dissociation of the Gonococcus

Abstract

Dissociation of the gonococcus has been implied in the work of Herzog1 and Warden2 as early as 1913. However, very recently two contemporary schools of thought have appeared in the literature; the French (represented by Ramsine,3 Milochevich,4 and Lavrinowicz5) and the German (represented by Kandyba6 and Delbanco-Lorentz7) who are convinced that changes in the morphology of the gonococcus exist in vitro and in vivo, while to the contrary, the Italian school (represented by Porcelli,8 Sechi,9 and Debiasi10) firmly believes that such changes have very little in common with the gonococcus and are due to errors in technique and interpretation. In view of the conflicting literature the present report, as well as more detailed results to appear later, may prove significant.Dissociation was attempted and accomplished with 4 stock strains of the gonococcus. During the entire study a modification of Hitchen's semi-solid medium was found satisfactory. Dissociation was produced by ageing and the use of immune serum....