12 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 373 



Incorrect use of terms is common in almost any walk of life, and that is 

 true with reference to food poisoning. Botulism is an example of true poison- 

 ing, because the toxin of the bacterium is an active poison. "Food poison- 

 ing" as discussed in the immediately preceding section of this bulletin is, in 

 reality, infection rather than poisoning. However, by common usage, Sal- 

 monella and Staphylococcus infections from foods will probably continue to 

 be known as food poisoning, and poisoning by botulinus toxin will be called 

 botulism. 



Food poisoning from the toxin of the botulinus bacteria was probably first 

 observed in Germany in 1735, but did not attract much attention until the latter 

 part of the 18th century. Then the condition frequently followed the eating 

 of large sausages, and was thought to be sausage poisoning. Consequently 

 the term "botulism," from a Latin word meaning sausage, came into use. 

 Cases continued to occur more or less commonly in different parts of Europe, 

 but it was not until 1894 that the true nature of the ailment became known. 

 In that year, von Ermengem isolated the bacterium during the study of an out- 

 break of botulism from pickled ham that caused 23 cases of illness with three 

 deaths. It is not surprising that the disease was common, even through the 

 19th century, because methods of preserving foods, particularly meats, were 

 very primitive and refrigeration was practically unknown. 



Botulism was considered rare in America until around 1912, but it is prob- 

 able that many cases of so-called "ptomaine poisoning" may have been botulism. 

 The cause of the disease is a bacterium called Bacillus botulinus by the med- 

 ical profession generally, while bacteriologists have a newer name for it, 

 Clostridium botulinum. The bacterium differs from the Salmonella and 

 Staphylococcus bacteria in two principal respects : It is an anaerobic bac- 

 terium, and it produces spores. Anaerobic bacteria are those which will not 

 grow in the presence of the oxygen of the air. This means that the botulinus 

 bacillus has an excellent opportunity to grow in sealed cans or jars of food 

 from which air has been excluded. Spores are bodies by which bacteria 

 propagate, and in that respect they serve the same purpose as do seeds of 

 garden and field plants. Spores will tolerate much higher cooking or sterilizing 

 temperature, and for a longer time, than the bacteria themselves ; and this 

 fact means that the botulinus bacillus will survive heat treatment that 

 would easily kill the Sahnonella or Staphylococcus bacteria, which do not have 

 spores. Fortunately, not many of all the known forms of bacteria produce 

 spores. Of those that do, only this one bacterium has been found to cause 

 food poisoning, although there are others that sometimes render food unfit 

 to be eaten. 



There are several types of the l)otulinus bacillus, and their toxins differ 

 considerably in the degree of their poisonous qualities. The type of the 

 bacterium prevalent in the Pacific-Coast and Rocky-Mountain sections 

 of the United States produces a toxin so deadly that a person poisoned 

 with it has considerably less than an even chance to survive. In the 

 eastern part of the United States and in parts of Europe a less dangerous 

 type of the bacterium is found, but even it can cause fatal illness. There has 

 been a widespread belief that there is no danger of botulism from foods 

 grown and canned in the Atlantic-Coast part of the United States, but a 

 few instances are on record that indicate that there is some danger even 

 in that region. For instance, an outbreak attributed to home-canned 

 string beans was reported from the western part of New York State 

 (23) in 1929; and one attributed to home-canned peppers was reported 

 from New Jersey (25) in 1936. A series of investigations by Professor 

 K. F. Meyer (22) of the University of California indicate that the botu- 



