MEAT, BREAD AND BUTTER 749 



Gartner group. It is manifest by the occurrence of 

 acute gastro-enteritis within twenty-four to forty-eight 

 hours after consumption of the food. The majority of 

 outbreaks is associated with meat food, and the case 

 mortality is generally low, not exceeding 2 per cent. 

 Infection is derived from such substances as pork, brawn, 

 sausage, meat pies, fish, potted meats and fish, tinned 

 meat and fish, occasionally beef, and rarely mutton and 

 vegetables. The organisms concerned are the B. enteri- 

 tidis and its variants, or forms allied to it (see pp. 442, 443). 

 Several outbreaks of food-poisoning have been attributed 

 to B. proteus, but the evidence is inconclusive. 



Meat is not likely to convey any bacterial disease with the 

 exception of Gartner infections, tuberculosis and anthrax. It 

 may be examined by cultures and plate cultivations, and by 

 inoculation and feeding experiments. Tinned meats, etc., may be 

 examined by aerobic and anaerobic cultures, and by feeding mice. 



Bread. Troitzki states that new bread contains no micro- 

 organisms, but Waldo and Walsh found that such organisms as 

 the comma bacillus may not be destroyed by passing through the 

 ordeal of the baker's oven. Cut bread forms a good nidus for the 

 development of some pathogenic organisms. Bread becomes 

 glutinous or " ropy " through the action of certain organisms 

 belonging to the B. mesentericus group, viz. B. m. panis viscosi 

 and B. m. fuscus panis viscosi. 



The Bacillus prodigiosus may grow upon various foodstuffs, 

 and give rise to suspicion of foul play. L. Parkes l describes 

 cases of diarrhoea which he suggests were caused by this organism. 



Butter contains from two to forty-seven millions of micro- 

 organisms per gramme. Tubercle and typhoid bacilli have been 

 found in butter, and the comma bacillus artificially introduced 

 survives for over a month. " Acid-fast " non-pathogenic forms 

 also occur (p. 409). 



For the isolation of the tubercle bacillus from butter and cheese 

 the only certain method is by inoculation. Butter may be 



1 Brit. Med. Journ., 1905, vol. ii, 1330. 



