The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1898-11-04

kaa...i station submitted the following.
Mr. W. q smith. President or the
Board OF Health.
Dear Sir:-While attending the L>ep-
rosy Conference in Berlin last October
took particular notice OF n paper sent
by Dr. Herman. of Cape % Good Hope.
on The bgcillus of ,cprosy in the hu-
man system ~ different periods OF its
growth
DIR. Herman claims that the young
hacilh of lsprosy 10 not always retain
the red color when washed in a 80 per
cent solution of nitric acid.
Hitherto all leprolosis;s taught that
the hacilli OF leprosy could be d.stin-
guished from many other bacilH by
the fact that they We're not deoolorizei
by strong solutions Of mineral acids
For several months after my return
TO the kalihi Laboratory last Decem-
ber. I prepared hundreds of coyer-slips
which. upon examination. revealed
only red-stained bacilli did not feel
discouraged. however. but continued
the search until succeeded in demon
strating beyond doubt. the existence OF
bacilli OF leprosy which are entirely de-
cOlorized when washed in solutions OF
per cent OF nitric acid.
At the last meeting OF the Committee
on the Treatment OF Leprosy. exhib-
ited cover slips showing both red and
dccolOrized bacilli side by side in the
same cOverslip. and I have NJ present
still better preparations in the labor
atory than those seen by the commit
tee.
have never found the decoiorfzed
bacilli in old tubercles or uicerating
surfaces. They are found only In re
cent eruptions or new noduies and are
probably the young or active bacilli.
while the bacilli which hold the color
are probably old and inert
This discovery may serve 10 explain
the many failures in producing pure
cultures in artificial media. II the ex-
perimentsr inoculates his tubes from
old tubercles ne must not expect to
raise colonies from bacilli. which. III
not dead. have lost their power OF re-
production; and. IL he found colonies
OF bacilli in his tubes which did not re-
tain the stain. he would naturally
throw them away. ] have often dis
carded such growths. regarding them
rs COMMUNICATIONS. because they did
not respond to the test OF resisting de-
coloration with mineral ACIDS. IL ts
more than probable that some were
pure cultures OF bacilIi OF leprosy-
/ have lately obtained growths of
bacilIi resembling those OF leprosy in
blood serum. which / hope after fur
ther investigation will prove TO be ba-
Cilli OF leprosy. These baciIli are de-
colOrozed by mineral ac.ds. nd the
growth Is almost invisible. The only
sign of growth Is a glazed appearance
OF the surface inoculated- They ap-
pear TO grow only on the surface OF
the serum and do not form separate
colonies. = mongOose inoculated with
these bacilli showed slight paralysis or
the hind legs and died few days
after. but the examination OF his body
did not reveal the cause OF death. All
his organs seemed TO be healthy.
Further experiments will be neces-
sary TO determine positively the ma
ture OF these cultures.
Respectfully submitted
l. F. ALVAREZ. NJ. ID.
Supt- of the s(alihi Experimental Hos
pital for the treatment OF Leprosy.
Honolulu, October 25th. 1898.
An executive session was held by the
Board.