ABSTRACT
The term "streptococcos" was used by Billroth (1874) to describe chain forming, coccoid bacteria that were found in wounds or discharge from animals. Later, Rosenbach (1884) used the name of "streptococcus" to describe organisms, growing in chains, that were isolated from suppurative lesions in man. In the following years, the association of streptococci with different diseases in man and animals was fIrmly established, and numerous attempts to classify and identify the different forms were undertaken. Early classifIcations of these bacteria were made on the basis of pathogenicity, cultural characteristics, cell morphology, reactions on blood agar, and growth temperature.
