Studies of the genus Clostridium. 3. The taxonomic study of the genus Clostridium with special reference to the organism isolated from the digestive tract and the soil

Abstract

A total of 436 strains were subjected to a taxonomical survey. All of them wereof spore-forming, obligatory anaerobic, Gram-positive or negative catalase-negative rods.Of them, 418 strains had been isolated from the feces or intestinal contents of black Neo-pards, leopards, tigers, cheetahs, pumas, jaguar, chickens, horses, cattle, pigs, dogs, cats>rabbits, ferrets, guinea pigs, mice and seal, lesions in horse and cattle, the tonsils of dogs, the uterus of cattle, soil, and silage, the remaining 18 strains were named stock cultures.The results obtained were as follows.l. The genus Clostridium was divided into four sub-genera, sixteen groups, on thebasis of four characters ; namely, the shape of the spore, rnotiNity, liquefaction of gelatin, and the growth type in iron-milk medium.2. Further studies are necessary to achieve the classification of this genus by thebiological and serological features, pathogenicity, and source of origin.