202 FOOD POISONING. 



preparation of this article of diet. Moreover, the blood is kept for 

 days sometimes in wooden boxes and at a high temperature before 

 it is used. In these cases it is altogether likely that putrefaction 

 progresses to the poisonous stage before the process of curing is be- 

 gun. A kind of sausage known as " blunzen " is made by filling 

 the stomachs of hogs with the meat. In curing, the interior of this 

 great mass is not acted upon and putrefaction sets in. The curing 

 is usually done by hanging the sausage in the chimney and at night 

 the fire goes out and the meat freezes. The interior of the mass is 

 generally the most poisonous part and in many instances those who 

 have eaten of the outer portion are often unharmed, while those who 

 have eaten of the interior of the same sausage have been seriously 

 affected. This method of preparing sausage in Wiirtemberg is not 

 now so generally employed and poisoning from this article of food is 

 not so common as formerly. 



Many German writers state that when a poisonous sausage is cut, 

 the putrid portion has a dirty, grayish-green color, and a soft, smeary 

 consistency. A disagreeable odor, resembling that of putrid cheese, 

 is perceptible, while the taste is unpleasant and sometimes a smarting 

 of the mouth and throat is produced. Post-mortem examination 

 shows no characteristic lesions. It is generally stated that putrefac- 

 tion sets in very tardily, but Miiller shows that no reliance can be 

 placed upon this point, and states that out of forty-eight recorded au- 

 topsies, it was especially stated in eleven that putrefaction rapidly de- 

 veloped. In some instances there has been noticed hyperemia of the 

 stomach and intestinal canal, but this is by no means constant. The 

 liver and brain have been reported as congested, but this would re- 

 sult from failure of the heart, and would, by no means, be character- 

 istic of poisoning with sausage. 



Von Faber, in 1821, observed sixteen persons who were made 

 sick by eating fresh unsmoked sausage made from the fiesh of a pig 

 which had suffered from an abscess on the neck. Five of the 

 patients died. The symptoms were as follows : There was con- 

 striction of the throat, diflficulty in swallowing, retching, vomiting, 

 colic-like pains, vertigo, hoarseness, dimness of vision and headache. 

 Later on 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 esophagus, when they were ejected from the mouth and nose 

 with coughing. Solid foods could not be swallowed. 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. Breathing was easy, but all had a croupous cough. The 

 skin was dry and there was incontinence of urine. There was no 



