TUBERCLE BACILLUS • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Tubercle bacillus

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noun

Tubercle n.

A small knoblike prominence or excrescence, whether natural or morbid; as, a tubercle on a plant; a tubercle on a bone; the tubercles appearing on the body in leprosy.

(Med.) A small mass or aggregation of morbid matter; especially, the deposit which accompanies scrofula or phthisis. This is composed of a hard, grayish, or yellowish, translucent or opaque matter, which gradually softens, and excites suppuration in its vicinity. It is most frequently found in the lungs, causing consumption.

Tubercle bacillus (Med.), a minute vegetable organism (Mycobacterium tuberculosis, formerly Bacillus tuberculosis, and also called Koch's bacillus) discovered by Koch, a German physician, in the sputum of consumptive patients and in tuberculous tissue. It is the causative agent of tuberculosis.

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Etymology of 'Tubercle bacillus'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Tubercle bacillus" Quotes from Famous Books

... known to be due to the invasion of the cutaneous structures by the tubercle bacillus; in short, a tuberculosis of the skin. It is not infrequently observed in the strumous and debilitated. It is entirely independent ...

— Essentials of Diseases of the Skin • Henry Weightman Stelwagon