INFECTIONS OF THE DIGESTIVE TRACT 183 



meat poisoning apparently due to the contamination of 

 meat by this organism. A number of instances have 

 been recorded in which the poisoning following the eat- 

 ing of sausages has been attributed to the action of 

 proteus vulgaris. 1 It has been found in such cases that 

 the nitrate of the bouillon culture of the proteus organ- 

 ism derived from the contaminated meat or from the 

 intestine has been fatal to experimental animals. There 

 are also recorded some instances of poisoning through 

 cheese which had become contaminated by B. proteus 

 vulgaris. In one instance a man ate abundantly of a 

 soft cheese containing this organism and soon developed 

 seizures of vomiting associated with great prostration 

 and cardiac depression followed by death after five 

 days. Other persons who ate of the same material more 

 moderately were similarly though less violently ill and 

 ultimately recovered. 2 



B. proteus vulgaris is an organism which in general 

 shows little tendency to invade the circulation from the 

 digestive tract although it may be the cause of the sever- 

 est gastro-enteric symptoms. 



Other Gram-negative liquefying facultative anaerobes 

 are sometimes found in the human intestine in great 

 abundance. Their relation to the production of disease 

 is not yet clearly established. Possibly some varieties 

 of liquefiers are harmless if present in moderate numbers. 

 In a case of pernicious anaemia from which I was unable 



1 A case of this kind is that reported by Schumburg, Zeitschr. 

 f. Hyg., xli, p. 183, 1902. 



2 Berl. Molkereizeitung, xiii, p. 78. 



