Uchida performed this experiment to ascertain the culture method of rat leprosy bacilli which was reported by Ogawa previously1) .
Three mice of dd-N strain and two mice of C3H strain were sacrificed seven to eleven months after being infected with the Hawaiian strain of rat leprosy bacilli subcutaneously and subcutaneous nodules, lymph-nodes and various organs were isolated with aseptic as the culture specimens which were 30 as a total. Each specimen were pretreated with 1% NaOH solution and inoculated on 1% egg-yolk media (egg-yolk media) as well as on 1% Ogawa media (whole-egg media), which were then incubated at 37°C. Three to five months later, development of macroscopical colonies were seen only on the egg-yolk media in 47.8% of inoculations, namely 11 out of 23 inoculations, while seven inoculations were excluded because of contaminations. The colonies were thin-yellow colored and slightly moist. On Ziel-Neelsen staining, bacilli were like tubercle bacilli but frequently with more elongated appearance. Though investigations of their properties or reproduction tests of these bacilli have not been performed yet, but it is assumed that so far these were quite similar to the acid-fast bacilli which were cultured by Ogawa previously. At present the colonies developed successfully in five successive cultures.
The results descrived above are much the same as the ones obtained by Ogawa. (The experiment was performed by Uchida independently of Ogawa, but since Uchida fell ill, the results were described by Ogawa.)

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Three autopsy cases of acute Klebsiella pneumonia were reported. Two of them were male leprosy patients in Komyoen Leprosarium and the other a female patient of a general hospital. All of them were over 50 years old. The onset of each case was sudden and they died within one week. However, physical examination of the lungs revealed mild deterioration in all cases. Their symptoms were not limited to the respiratory system.
Autopsy findings revealed typical lobar pneumonia due to Klebsiella pneumoniae. Infection of this gram negative bacilli did not relate to leprosy; it is the same as other bacterial pneumonia which occurrs equally between leprous and non-leprous patients. The histopathological findings of the lung showed remarkable lymphocytic infiltration rather than polymorphonuclear leukocytic one; it was different from the description of textbooks. Infiltrating cells of pulmonary lesion were slightly different among the three cases. Old lepromata with a mild lymphocytic infiltration was seen in the liver, spleen or adrenal of leprosy cases. Acid-fast bacilli were not found in these lesions.
Klebsiella pneumoniae is thought to exist in normal flora of the human pharynx. In our cases, leukopenia was not the cause of this infection. One leprosy patient was a heavy drinker. Alcoholism seemed to relate to etiology of the pneumonia; there had been little reference in previously reported cases in Japan. Sulfon therapy of long duration for leprosy may effect the human flora, but it was not clear in our cases. For treatment and improvement of prognosis, it is necessary to identify the bacilli and choose sensible antibiotics.

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