4 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BtyjN 426 



and su^^aH^ed in Ihe fo ol^i ^IxuL?:' ---'^bie fnfo^ationbeen made 

 interest to those persons or agencies who .' 'u^''"' '^""'^ ^^ H 



home-canning directions for Z . u,'"""^ *^^ responsibilit/°^'dmg 



by a food cafefuli^ an. Taccofdl? '." '" ""^ ^"^'^^^'^ °^ ^otu-^-^ 

 private concern o/anv other agen'h^ directions furnished to the p^ ^y a 

 V otner agency has grave implications. 



WHAT IS BOTULISM? 



per t:^:j';^^f S:i;- :r rr --' '^- ^^^ ---^ ' 



botuUnum, widely- distributed in natut ?7.r'°''"^'"^ bacterium, a../.f 

 bacteria, the organism respon "ble for ho. . ' """''■ '''''' °^ ^°°d poiso? 

 during the process of food ". wCZC/''''' ''^^°^'" '" ''^ 

 not the bacteria that causes the poisoning Th^o " "''" '' " ''^^ '«-'" ' 

 are much more resistant to heat than other WinH f ."""^ Produces spores wh. 

 ;t . difficult to destroy them in TJnt' u^ll^^^^^^^^^^ 

 pressure canner at a high temperature Th uTv ,^ ^""^ P^cessed in 

 kinds of bacteria in thf t whenTg ^s ^n food 7 T '^'""^ '''^'^ ^^^^ -- 

 s.gns of spoilage. Thus, jars of cLnId food . . '' "°' ^^^"'^^ ^"^^ °bviou. 

 sarily show evidence of spoilage whTch Jou^d Z TV' ^"^'^ ^° ^^ --s- 

 was unfit to eat. The term Botulism (La til Bn7, °"""''^ ^^^^ ^'^^ f°od 



apply to a particular type of food Prison g'causr^bvVa:"''^^ T ^°^"^^ ^« 

 Accordmg to Tanner (1933) it is no longer used .Sh .h "^ '^"''"^ ^""^^^^^• 



- now applied to a group of s3mptomTirrespec .e of TT.' "^^"•"^' ''"^ 

 poison which causes them. The snectarJ ^ ^°°^ '""'■^e of the 



ve^^r:^tt-£-5^r^^^^ caused bv .nned 

 Of the name, have been caLed by P^^rrXri^d^u:^^^^^^^^^ ^-^- ''' -- 



SYMPTOMS AND DIAGNOSIS OF BOTULISM 



According to Damon (1928) a great varietv r.f 

 cases of botulism, but in general, the cases fl in T^'°"' '" °^'''^'^ - 

 -., those in which there is an init al acute JaltoTn? T ?T '"^'"" ^-"P^- 

 by symptoms of the poisoning and those LwhiTl,"^' ^'^.^"'■bance followed 



botulism are manifest at once. The nervou"^m:f 'T''^ '""P^^"^^ °f 



result of absorption of the toxin in thlfood thrurtV" '""^'^ ^"^^"^ ^ ^ 

 'ntestine. '°°^ through the mucosa of the upper 



In the cases observed in the Unif-^^H «;<■-,<- r- ■ 



reported .ha. .he earliest recorded o„,et„r.h?d'fr' ''"'''•" """ '''''^ ('"'» 



a feelin, „, lassitudf aTd at ^u^f e';:::,;":'™' "''T'"'' '^^ '= »-% 

 -e a„d a ...„, .en.../.. rrlrrr^^Xt^X^lS- 



