Abstract
Aronson 1 isolated a strain of tubercle bacillus from an iguana which was found dead in the Philadelphia Zoo. A number of tubercles were seen in the lung of this animal and also in the liver. The spleen contained no gross tubercles. A single tubercle was found in the upper pole of the left kidney. In guinea pigs injected intracutaneously with this culture Aronson found that a small ulcer occurred at the site of inoculation. The glands became enlarged and succulent but went on to healing. The organism was found to be pathogenic for the chameleon and salamander and also for the frog. It was not pathogenic for the snake. As regards the frog Aronson's findings have been confirmed by Holly 2 and by the writers with a transfer of this organism which Aronson sent to us sometime ago for further study.
Examination of stained slide preparations reveals the organism to be acid- and alcohol-fast. Ziehl-Neelsen stained vertical sections from growing colonies made with a technique reported by us 3 show some non-acid-fast rods in addition, but the tiny non-acid-fast rods and granules so conspicuous in vertical sections of human and bovine tubercle bacillus colonies are entirely lacking. It would seem then that this organism multiplies principally by simple fission. According to Henderson and Aronson 4 the organism is culturally and serologically identical with Mycobacterium marinum which was isolated from salt water fish.
In view of the pathogenicity of this organism for frogs it occurred to the writers to determine whether a similar situation existed for tadpoles. If this proved to be the case the tadpole would make a valuable experimental animal for certain problems as the entire animal may be sectioned and all of the organs examined in the same creature at the same time. It would also permit investigations concerning the reaction of embryonic tissue toward infection by a member of the Mycobacterium group.
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