EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 629 



opening, absence of vacuum, or spurting liquid showing gas pressure. These 

 signs of spoilage may be indicative of the presence of B. botulinus. 



Never Taste Questionable Food. — If the eye or nose condemns the food, 

 the sense of taste should nevei' be used. Many of the fatal cases of botulism 

 were of persons who just tasted the food to see if it was all right. 



TREATMENT 



Two Distinct Types of Botulinus Toxin. — So far nothing has been said 

 to indicate whether all strains of B. botulinus are alike. The workers at 

 the Universitj'^ of California may be given the credit for discovering that there 

 are at least two distinct strains of this bacillus depending on the type of 

 toxin produced. They have designated these strains as B. botulinus, Type 

 A, and B. botulinus Tj^pe B. 



Why Botulinus Antitoxin Has Failed. — It is a well known fact that when 

 a certain amount of diphtheria antitoxin is injected into an animal it protects 

 the animal against a definite dose of diphtheria toxin; the same is also true in 

 the case of tetanus toxin and antitoxin. It is not possible, however, to pro- 

 tect an animal against tetanus toxin by injecting any amount, however large, 

 of diphtheria antitoxin. The toxin produced by the tj^pe A botulinus bacillus 

 is not the same as that of the type B organism, and further, the antitoxin of 

 type A bacillus will not protect against the toxin of the type B bacillus or 

 vice versa. This peculiar fact has been proved experimentally and explains 

 many of the failures when attempts have been made to prevent or alleviate 

 the intoxication in humans poisoned by the toxin of this bacillus; the wrong 

 type of antitoxin was used. 



The Value of Polyvalent Antitoxin. — Hence if anj^one is suffering from 

 suspected botulism, sufficient of a mixture of the two types of antitoxin, or 

 as it is termed a ''polyvalent" botulinus antoxin, should be given in order 

 to be certain of neutralizing, or counteracting the effect of whichever toxin 

 is present. 



No Cure for Botulism, Symptoms Occur Too Late. — So far as is known, 

 no medicine is of any value in the treatment of this disease. As the symp- 

 toms are a result of the action of the toxin on certain portions of the nervous 

 system it is very evident that some time must have elapsed before symptoms 

 appeared and no medicine could then be of avail, if administered by way 

 of the mouth, or even if injected. When symptoms begin to show it is gen- 

 erally too late to do more than give a therapeutic dose of a specific or of a 

 polyvalent botulinus antitoxin. 



Preventive Measures in Canning. — ^The prevention of botulism in human 

 foods then rests upon the housewife or the commercial canners; first, upon 

 the cleanliness in the preparation of the food from garden to can; second, 

 upon employing sufficient heat in processing to destroy the spores of the 

 most resistant bacteria which may be present; third, taking particular pains 

 to seal each can immediately after sterilization and store in as cool a place 

 as possible. 



In Preparing Meals. — The one who prepares the meals must be looking out 

 to prevent botulism by a careful appraisal of all canned goods before and 

 after opening, with the sense of sight and smell only, not with the sense of 

 taste, especially if anything seems wrong with the can contents. These 

 precautions should not be limited to canned goods, however, since it will 



