122 MICRO-ORGANISMS AND DISEASE. [CHAP. 



spores. Eberth 1 found in about 50 per cent, of cases of 

 patients dead of typhoid fever, in the mesenteric glands and 

 spleen, peculiar short bacilli, rounded at their ends, and 

 occasionally slightly constricted in the middle ; some of them 

 contained spores. The bacilli stain very freely with methyl- 

 violet. It is, however, doubtful whether these bacilli can 

 be considered as necessarily and intimately connected with 

 typhoid fever, seeing that they are not constant, and only 

 occur in the mesenteric glands and spleen, i.e. in localities 

 into which an immigration of putrefactive bacilli from the 

 bowels may easily take place ; especially when we remember 

 that in fatal cases of typhoid fever there constantly occur 

 severe sloughing and necrosis of the Peyer's glands. (See 

 end of Chapter XVIII.) The bowels in typhoid fever always 

 contain innumerable masses of micrococci in colonies \ and 

 these micrococci are found not only in the tissue of the 

 intestinal mucous membrane but also in the mesenteric 

 glands and spleen. 2 



(d) Bacillus of choleraic diarrhoea from meat-poisoning. 

 In July, i88o, 3 there occurred in Welbeck, Notts, an exten- 

 sive outbreak of diarrhoea among over seventy-two persons 

 who had partaken of beef and ham sandwiches sold at 

 Welbeck on the occasion of a sale of timber and machinery 

 on the estate of the Duke of Portland. The infection 

 showed itself after an incubation-period varying from twelve 

 hours or less to forty-eight hours or more. The first 

 symptoms were a sudden feeling of languor, nausea, griping 

 in the abdomen, in some cases giddiness and fainting, and 



1 Vircho-w's Archiv, vols. Ixxxiii., Ixxxvii. See also Koch, MittheiL 

 a. d. k. Gesundheitsamte, i. 1881 ; and Gaffky, ibid. 1882. 



2 Klein, Reports of the Medical Officer of the Privy Council, 1875. 



3 Report by Dr. Ballard in the Reports of the Medical Officer of the 

 Local Government Board, 1880. 



