The examination of the cultures tubes has to be carried out with care. The supernatant clear broth is pipetted off, and smear and wet film preparations are best made from the surface of the blood deposit, up to the end.
At 24-48 hours, the deposit is usually granular and watery, so that films can be made with ease; but after this time it becomes thick, mucoid, and jelly-like.
The smear preparations were always stained by Leishman's method.
In order to avoid a lengthy description of the forms found, I have attempted on the figure now to illustrate the changes which I have been able to follow in Dactylosoma.
Nos. 1 to 4 are young forms - not being a typical pickle-shaped body. They are most numerous during the first twenty-four hours.
Nos. 5 to 11 are the forms found 48 to 72 hours after the inoculation. At this time almost all the parasites show some stage of multiplication. They are actively motile.
From this time onwards, the organisms can be ...Rept...