American Civil War soldier lies in bed with a gangrenous amputated arm.
He was being treated for gangrene in August 1863 when Edward Stauch traveled from Washington to make this sketch.
The soldier Milton E. Wallen survived.
photo wikipedia
Clostridium novyi type A
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General information
Taxonomy
Family: Clostridiaceae
Natural habitats
Ubiquitous in nature, being found in the soil and feces
Clinical significance.
During the War, C.novyi was isolated from wounds that were contaminated with soil.
They gave rise to gas gangrene and they has been implicated in mortality among injecting illegal drug users.
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Gram stain
Gram positive (becoming gram negative) straight rods,
0.6-1.4 x 1.6-17.0 µm,
occurring singly or in pairs
Spores oval / subterminal
Swelling of the cell positive
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Culture characteristics
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Obligate anaerobic
BBAØ: colonies are 1-5 mm in diameter, beta-haemolytic (variable), flat or raised, translucent or opaque, gray, dull or glistening, circular, with a crystalline or mosaic internal structure and a scalloped, undulate, lobate, or rizoid margin.
They appear as a spreading film over the entire plate.
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Characteristics
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References
James Versalovic et al.(2011) Manual of Clinical Microbiology 10th Edition
Karen C. Carrol et al (2019) Manual of Clinical Microbiology, 12th Edition
Microbiology on the go. An initiative by
Dept. Medical Microbiology and Infectious diseases