116 ABSTRACTS 



present on oats which were proved to be the cause of a serious outbreak 

 of a disease commonly known as "forage poisoning," suggested the 

 possibihty of some pathogenic or virulent type occurring on grains, 

 thus explaining some of the losses occurring to the live stock industry. 



To determine the effect produced by ingestion of strains of B. coli 

 isolated at this laboratory, horses were fed a wholesome feed heavily 

 inoculated with the isolated cultures of B. coli grown on broth and 

 agar media. One horse received agar cultures on corn meal in addition 

 to oats which had previously been inoculated. After four days this 

 animal developed diarrhea, showed a sluggish attitude, and regardless 

 of the amount of wholesome feed consumed lost in weight. A mule 

 was fed 200 cc. of broth culture ranging from forty-eight to seventy- 

 two hours old twice daily. In this animal loss of appetite occurred 

 and the animal became weak and suffered from diarrhea. 



A third horse was fed for eighteen days on oats heavily inoculated 

 with B. coli after being frozen for four days at 30°F. and allowed to 

 thaw slowly. This animal evidenced an indifferent appetite, was 

 greatly depressed and lost in body weight. Another horse was fed 

 oats which had been previously inoculated with broth cultures of B. 

 coli, with the result that the animal suffered loss in weight. 



In no case were we able to produce death by feeding, but the con- 

 dition in the experimental horses was such as to suggest that feeds 

 contaminated extensively with colon bacilli lower animal vitaUty and 

 render the animal more susceptible to other injury. While most 

 investigators consider colon contamination of grains the result of fer- 

 tilizing soils with animal fecal matter, some believe that multiphcation 

 actually takes place on the grain. For instance, Prescott (cited by 

 Rogers, Clark and Evans) found B. coli on grains grown under con- 

 ditions which gave no history of contamination with fecal material. 

 If this be a tenable view it will account for the occurrence of B. coli 

 in greater numbers than can be accounted for by the theory of con- 

 tamination. Since the toxins of B. coli have been proven by Vaughn and 

 Cooley^ to be intracellular, it follows that the effects observed by us 

 must have been produced b,y disintegrated bacterial cells. In this 

 connection we desire to mention the effect of daily intravenous injec- 

 tions of dead colon bacilli washed from agar slants. Horses so treated 

 evinced marked symptoms, shortly after treatment, consisting of profuse 

 sweating, uneasiness, increased repiration and exhaustion. In one 

 instance death resulted. In most cases, however, the symptoms sub- 

 sided in from thirty minutes to four hours after injection, with a notice- 

 able increase in tolerance from day to day. 



It is evident from these observations that the occurrence of B. coli 

 as isolated from grain which was the causative factor of so-called 

 "forage poisoning" bears no primary relation to the disease re- 

 sulting from the feeding of the oats, but from a sanitary standpoint 

 it seems advisable to protect animal feeds from B. coli contamination 

 in so far as possible. 



* Journal American Medical Association, 1901. 



