626 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



In Chickens. — ' 'Limber neck' ' is the term applied to this disease in chick- 

 ens. 



CAUSE. 



Ptomains and Toxins Contrasted. — Botuhsm is essentially a food poison- 

 ing produced by a toxin, in contradistinction to ptomain poisoning. Ptomains, 

 comparatively few of which are poisonous, are a part of the molecule of a 

 protein food which has been attacked and broken down by microorganisms, 

 or in the chemical laboratory. Toxins, on the other hand, come from the 

 microbial cell itself. They cannot be produced in the chemical laboratory. 

 They are a product of the li^dng cell only. 



Toxin Absorbed from Alimentary Tract. — Botulism is caused by the 

 presence in and absorption from the alimentary tract (of l^oth humans and 

 animals) of toxin produced by Bacillus botulinus, a large anaerobic, spore- 

 forming bacillus. 



Toxin Produced in Food. — ''How does the toxin of B. botulinus get into 

 the alimentary tract?' ' is a question arising next. When this bacillus grows 

 in suitable food under suitable enviromnental conditions such as proper 

 temperature and lack of air, this toxin is produced. Whether food poisoning 

 is produced or not depends upon whether this particular food is eaten, and 

 the severity or fatality of the poisoning depends upon the amount or viru- 

 lence of the toxin present. The toxin of B. botulinus is unique in that it is 

 so far as is known, the only true toxin which is absorbed through the in- 

 testinal walls. This is an important factor in the causation of intoxication 

 from this source. Toxins of the tetanus and diphtheria bacillus, on the other 

 hand, have beer sho^ar seldom to survive the biochemical activities in the 

 digestive tract. 



Temperature Favorable for Toxin Production. — ^Another difference be- 

 tween the well knowTi toxins just mentioned and that of B. botulinus is, 

 that under conditions where the former toxins are ordinarily dangerous to 

 health they are produced by their respective organisms inside the animal 

 body, at body temperature (about 37. °C.). The B. botulinus toxin, to the 

 contrary, is produced perhaps most frequently, outside the animal body at 

 temperatures considerably below body temperature, e. g., 20-22°C. 



Food Stuffj Favorable for Toxin Production. — Another, and perhaps a 

 more important factor in the causation of botulism is that B. botulinus ap- 

 pears to be able to grow and produce its toxin in a wide variety of food stuffs, 

 both animal and human, not only under anaerobic but under apparently 

 aerobic conditions. Upon consulting many late text books, it will be noted 

 that the findings of van Ermengem who discovered B. botulinus in 1893 are 

 taken apparently as the last word on the subject. Modern researches have 

 shown that in this as well as in similar cases, this ' 'habit" which many authors 

 have of repeating the statements of previous writers without experimental 

 proof of their correctness, is reprehensible. It has been found, for instance, 

 that the germ producing this particular type of food poisoning can grow not 

 only in sausage, and other meat products, but in canned vegetables and even 

 in canned fruits; that the acid of certain vegetables and fruits is apparently 

 not as inhibitive to the growth of B. botulinus as has been stated heretofore ; 

 and that not uncommonly, it seems to grow in silage in the apparently aerobic 

 portions of the silo, most probably in association with molds and other mi- 

 croorganisms found in the silage. 



