Spirochaeta (spi-ro-ke'tah)

A genus of protozoa of the phylum Mastigophora and the order Binucleata, which show an undulating membrane and flexible form consisting of a number of corkscrew like curves. S. a cum in at a. A s. found in the open sores of frambesia. S. bal a nitid is. A s. found in Balanitis circinata, having 6 to 10 very motile coils and being shorter and thicker than S. pallid a. S. Balbiannii. A form present in the stomach of the oyster, po e ing from 5 to 8 spiral coils. S. bronchial is. A s. found in bronchial spirochetosis. S. buccal is. A form found in normal mouths; it has from 3 to 10 irregular flat coils. S. Carter i i. A s. described by Carter as causing relapsing fever in Bombay. S. colligyrum. A species cultivated by Noguchi from condylomata. S. dentium. A very small with from 4 to 20 coils. S. Duttoni. A form producing African tick fever in human beings and capable of transmi ion to monkeys by the bites of infected ticks. S. gallina'rum. A species causing disease in chickens. S. hyos. An organism probably bearing an etiological relationship to hog cholera. S. macrodentium. A s. resembling s. of Vincent's angina. S. microdentium. A s. cultivated from tooth deposits in children. S. Obermeieri. A long, flexible, slender spiral with wavy coils staining faintly with the anilin dyes, being negative to Gram's stain. The organism shows a rotary motion and is present in the blood and organs of patients with relapsing fever. It can.be cultivated in celloidin capsules in the peritoneal cavity of rats, and monkeys can be infected with human blood containing it. S. pallid a. Syn.: Treponema pallidum. A very delicate s. found in practically all of the lesions of syphilis. It has from 4 to 20 spirals and shows a rotary motion and a quivering movement. It may be stained by various modifications of the eosinate of methylene blue, such as Hastings' stain, and is found in the lesions in monkeys when inoculated with the virus of syphilis. S. per ten i us. A s. obtained from cases of frambesia tropic a, or yaws. S. phage denis. A s. cultivated from phagedenic lesions. S. refringens. A s. found in the mouth and also in various syphilitic lesions a ociated with the 5*. pallid a* It is longer and thicker than the former and its spirals are often very irregular. It is mostly a secondary invader. It can be cultivated in celloidin sacs in the peritoneal cavity of the rabbit. S. of relapsing A fever.form See 5". Obermeieri. the S. Vincent i. accompanying fusiform inflammation bacillus in Vincent's angina,and a fibrinous of the mouth throat. [Gr., speir a, a coil, + chaite, flowing hair.]