Bulgarian Bacillus

BULGARIAN BACILLUS (Bac. Bulgaricus, Bac. Yoghurti), gained fame through I. I. Mechnikov, who pointed out its therapeutic properties in the so-called lactobacillin. The B. b. was first isolated by Coandy in Mechnikov's laboratory and by Grigoryev in Massol'H's laboratory (Geneva) from Bulgarian sour milk, the so-called "yogurt". This bacterium is distinguished by its sharp acid production: while ordinary milk microbes produce no more than 1% lactic acid from milk sugar, Bulgarian bacteria produce up to 3.23%, thanks to which milk curdled by B. b. is very sour. In addition, this bacterium produces mucus in milk and slightly breaks down fat. B. b. is a very characteristic, thin microbe, 10-15 µ in size, with sharply cut edges; it stains by Gram's method. It curdles milk uniformly; it grows only on media containing sugar, and best of all on milk. On sugar agar it grows better by puncture than on the surface. On dishes with sugar agar it forms small star-shaped colonies resembling a jellyfish head. Facultative anaerobe. Optimum growth temperature 30-35°. B. b. are very resistant in the dried state. The sharp acid-producing properties of B. b. gave I. I. Mechnikov the idea to propose it as a biological agent for combating various intestinal intoxications caused by improper fermentation processes due to intestinal bacterial flora. In this regard, a number of authors have clarified, both from the laboratory-experimental side and from the clinical side, that B. b. is an extremely effective and energetic disinfectant. As such, it is applicable in various purulent and putrefactive processes, e.g., in bacterial inflammations of the female genital tract, in purulent otitis, etc.; according to Hermann's research, enemas from B. b. cultures help in the fight against carriers of cholera vibrios.