62 Bulletin No. 207. 



propagation in suitable media and ingestion by chickens re- 

 sulted fatally. Landmann 23 isolated a pathogenic anaerobic 

 bacillus from a bean salad that had produced serious and 

 fatal illness in Darmstadt following ingestion. Gaffky 24 is 

 credited with first propagating B. botulinus in puree of beans. 

 Dickson successfully cultivated B. botulinus in canned string 

 beans and peas in which the reaction had not been altered. 

 The development of B. botulinus in media of an acid reaction 

 is reported by von Hibler and Dickson. 



The observations of van Ermengem, confirmed by Roemer 

 and others, on the pathogenicity of B. botulinus suggest that 

 chickens show very little sensitiveness to the toxin and are 

 considered practically immune. Buckley and Shippen re- 

 ported chickens in their experiments to be highly resistant, 

 and our results on feeding B. botulinus to chickens corrobo- 

 rate these observations. The variations noted in B. botulinus 

 by von Hibler, van Ermengem, Roemer, Leuchs, Dickson, and 

 Buckley and Shippen suggest that the biologic properties of 

 different strains of B. botulinus are subject to modification. 



Roemer and van Ermengem point out the occurrence of 

 B. botulinus in association with other organisms in meat, and 

 further demonstrate its development in association with B. 

 subtilis under aerobic conditions, with toxin production. Buck- 

 ley and Shippen report the growth of B. botulinus in symbiosis 

 with yeast on slant lactose agar under aerobic conditions. The 

 latter methods of propagation are of particular interest as 

 they offer evidence excluding the necessity of strictly anaero- 

 bic conditions as fundamental for the development of this 

 organism. 



In studying the possible relation of B. botulinus to spo- 

 radic forage poisoning in animals, the ability of the organism 

 to develop on feeds naturally associated with this disease 

 seemed fundamental. Sterile decoctions of wholesome alfalfa, 

 corn, oats and corn silage, made slightly alkaline, were inocu- 

 lated with one loopful of B. botulinus* and placed at room 

 temperature under anaerobiosis. A feeble growth, with gas 



23 Hyg-. Rundschau, 1904, XIV, 449 (cited by Dickson). 



24 Handb. d. path. Mikroog-., IV, p. 918 (cited by van Ermeng-em). 



* N. B. S. strain of B. botulinus. 



