GRASSES OF IOWA. ISH 



There is considerable loss in many states from cerebro- spinal 

 meningitis. In many parts of the country this is attributed, as I 

 have said before, to mouldy corn. Dr. Bitting,* of the Indiana 

 Agricultural Experiment Station, made an investigation of 

 this question and concludes that mouldy corn is not responsible 

 for this disease. Upon an examination of mouldy corn he found 

 several moulds and a bacterium. To test the poisonous prop- 

 erties, two horses were injected under the skin with five cubic 

 centimeters of the active growth in bouillon of the bacterium 

 found in mouldy corn, and later followed by an injection of ten 

 centimeters. Later larger amounts were given, and each ani- 

 mal was induced to eat as much as five pounds of the infected 

 meal per day. One of the moulds as well as the bacterium 

 gave negative results; the Fusarium produced a redness of the 

 gums and some salivation. In no case did cerebro-spinal men- 

 ingitis result. 



n^ 



jr 



go' 



Fig. 77. Moulds and bacteria from mouldy corn. 1 and 3, Fusarium; 1, mycelium; 

 2 and 6, other moulds ; 4 and 5, bacteria. (Pammel and King.) 



The results of the experiment show that inoculations with 

 culture of the bacteria and moulds were ineffective. Eating of 

 the mushes containing pure culture showed that only in the 

 case of a growth of a species of Fusarium did any intestinal 

 disturbance follow, and that in one case the feeding of the 

 rotted grain produced considerable intestinal disturbance and 

 some nervous symptoms, but that the disturbance was light 

 in the other. 



Grawitz succeeded in producing infection by adapting the 

 digestive tract of the animals to an alkaline medium. It is a 



•Farmers' Bulletin U. S. Dept. Agrl. Exp. Sta. Work. XVI. 122: 26. 



