1903.] on Civilisation and Health Dangers in Food. 251 



that several persons who had partaken of certain pork pies were 

 seriously ill, being affected with a kind ol diarrhoeal disease usually 

 associated with food poisoning. In the course of the enquiries that 

 followed, it was ascertained that at least 221 persons who had par- 

 taken of pies purchased at one shop in the course of a few days, had 

 been similarly affected, and that four of them had died. Of the 

 221 persons, 131 were living in Derby, and 90 were taken ill in 

 other towns. The four fatal cases belonged to the latter group, and 

 it was apparent that pies which had been rapidly consumed in Derby 

 had been less fatal than those which had been taken, or sent, to a 

 distance. 



Careful investigation revealed the fact that the great majority of 

 cases, if not ail, could be connected with one batch of pies, baked cu 

 Tuesday, September 2. 



On inspecting the premises where the pies had been prepared 

 Dr. Howarth ascertained that the owner conducted his business with 

 more than ordinary care, and that there was no evidence of any con- 

 travention of any of the borough bye-laws. There was no evidence 

 to show that the flesh of any diseased pig had been used. 



The results of this first part of the investigation were : (1) that 

 the outbreak of illness was clearly connected with the consumption of 

 a certain batch of pork pies ; and (2) that these pies contained a 

 noxious substance of some unknown origin. Outbreaks of food 

 poisoning have, during the last few decades, been investigated both 

 in this country and abroad ; those connected with the ingestion of 

 animal food have generally been attributed to the use of the flesh of 

 diseased animals, or to putrefactive changes which had given rise to 

 the formation of poisonous alkaloids, known generally under the 

 name of ptomaines. In this case I found no evidence of the presence 

 of ptomaines in the pies, and I think that careful investigation of 

 outbreaks of food poisoning will show that true ptomaine poisoning 

 is a very rare occurrence indeed. 



On microscopical examination of the pies I found that the meat 

 showed no evidence of having been derived from diseased swine. 

 Many of the small pieces of meat which I examined were, however, 

 partly covered with a layer of bacteria. These bacteria had invaded 

 the surrounding jelly, which I found crowded with colonies of a 

 bacillus. After a careful study of the character of the bacilluc, I 

 found that it resembled closely one described by Gaertner in 1888 

 under the name of Bacillus enteritidis, and I named mine Bacillus 

 enteritidis Derhiensis. The distribution of this microbe led me to the 

 conclusion that the meat had been exposed to faecal pollution after 

 being chopped up, and before being baked. To test the correctness 

 of my theory it was necessary to find out whether the meat had actually 

 been exposed to such pollution, and whether bacilli of the kind 

 discovered could have survived the baking process. 



A visit to the premises where the pies had been prepared allowed 

 me to realise more clearly than I had done before how many were 



