44 BACTERIAL POISOKS. 



aud throat is produced. Post-mortem examination after 

 sausage poisoning shows no characteristic lesion. It is 

 generally stated that putrefaction sets in' very tardily, but 

 MtTLLBE shows that no reliance can be placed upon this 

 point, and states that out of forty-eight recorded autopsies, 

 it was especially stated in eleven that putrefaction rapidly 

 developed. In some instances there has been noticed 

 hypersemia of the stomach and intestinal canal, but this is 

 by no means constant. The liver aud brain have been re- 

 ported as congested, but this would result from the failure 

 of the heart, and would, by no means, be characteristic of 

 poisoning with sausage. 



Yon Faber, in 1821, observed sixteen persons who 

 were made sick by eating fresh, unsmoked sausage made 

 from the flesh of a pig which had suffered from an abscess 

 on the neck. Five of the patients died. The symptoms 

 were as follows: There was constriction of the throat, 

 difficulty in swallowing, retching, vomiting, colic-like 

 pains, vertigo, hoarseness, dimness of vision, and headache. 

 Later and in severer cases, there was complete exhaustion, 

 and, finally, paralysis. The eyeballs were retracted, the 

 pupils were sometimes dilated, then contracted ; they did 

 not respond to light ; there was paralysis of the upper lids. 

 The tonsils were swollen, but not as in tonsillitis. Liquids 

 which were not irritating could be carried as far as the 

 oesophagus, when they were then ejected from the mouth 

 and nose with coughing. Solid foods could not be swal- 

 lowed. On the back of the tongue and in the pharynx 

 there was observed a puriform exudate. 



Obstinate constipation existed in all, while the sphincter 

 ani was paralyzed. The breathing was easy, but all had 

 a croupous cough. The skin was dry. There was incon- 

 tinence of urine. There was no delirium and the mind 

 remained clear to the last. 



Post-mortem examinations were held on four. The 

 skin was rough — "goose-skin." The abdomen was re- 

 tracted. The large vessels in the upper jiart of the stom- 

 ach were filled M-ith black blood. The contents of the 

 stomach consisted of a reddish-brown, semi-fluid substance. 



