BACILLUS ENTERITIDIS. 461 



which the bacteria have been removed by filtration, 

 are toxic for mice and guinea-pigs (Drigalski). It 

 is noteworth}% however, that relatively large quan- 

 tities of the bouillon were necessary to kill guinea- 

 pigs (4.0 c.c.) which is in contrast to the toxins of 

 diphtheria and tetanus. The rapidity with which 

 symptoms develop following the ingestion of in- 

 fected meat is a further indication of the exist- 

 ence of this soluble toxin, which, it would seem, is 

 formed in considerable quantities in the meat. 

 Symptoms occasionally develop so quickly as 

 to suggest some strong metallic poisoning. With- 

 in a few hours vomiting, violent diarrhea and 

 colicky pains set in, followed by more or less 

 collapse, weakness, headache and not uncom- 

 monly by erythematous, urticarial or herpetic 

 eruptions. Fever is absent or inconspicuous. 

 The mortality is not high, from 2 to 5 per cent. ; 

 convalescence is said to be slow. Nephritis and 

 catarrhal pneumonia have been noted as sequelae. 

 Autopsy shows the anatomic changes of an acute 

 gastroenteritis, sometimes of hemorrhagic charac- 

 ter, with swollen Peyer's patches; the large intes- 

 tine is not greatly involved. The spleen may be 

 swollen and the kidneys degenerated. The ana- 

 tomic findings are not specific. 



It has been shown in numerous instances that sources of 

 the cattle or horses (Drigalski) which furnished l 

 the meat were sick with an intestinal or general 

 infection with Bacillus enteritidis before they were 

 slaughtered. "In a very large number of cases it 

 can be demonstrated that the animals from which 

 the meat was taken had been slaughtered in 

 extremis or had died recently, and, indeed, that 

 thev had (in certain instances) died before they 



