MEAT POISONING BACILLUS IQ7 



MEAT POISONING BACILLUS 



Bacillus Botulinus. Van Ermengen. 



Bacillus of Meat Poisoning, or Botulism (Fig. 58). 



Morphology and Stains. This bacillus resembles thick vigor- 

 ous rods, 4-9/4 long, and .9^ thick, is motile, has polar spores, and 

 from four to nine peritrichous flagella. It is strangely called a 

 saprophyte, because it is incapable of growth in the body, yet its 

 toxin is highly poisonous to man and other animals. It is stained 

 by all the usual basic aniline dyes, and by Gram's method. 



FIG. 58. Bacillus of botulism. (Kolle and Wassermann.) 



Habitat. It seems probable that this organism occurs in the 

 feces of animals, especially pigs, from which source it can gain 

 access to the ground, to vegetables, or to the meat of the animal 

 from which hams are cured or sausages made. While originally a 

 disease described as originating from improperly cured hams, 

 botulism has been known to follow the eating of tomatoes, beans 

 and olives. 



Vital Characteristics. Is an anaerobe. Its thermal death- 

 point, for a spore-bearing organism, is low, 8oC., for an hour. 



