KRE0T0XI8MUS. 205 



was cooked, inasmuch as other portions of the same carcass caused 

 no ill effects. In the " Whitechurch case," brawn, consisting of a 

 gelatin made from pig's head, was eaten cold. Members of ten fam- 

 ilies residing in different parts of the town were affected. In the 

 " Whitechurch-pork case," the meat eaten immediately after it was 

 cooked had no ill effect, while portions eaten cold the next day 

 killed two persons. In the " Wolverhampton-tin-salmon case," three 

 adults ate, and two children merely tasted, the contents of a 

 "blown" can. The one who ate the most was attacked about ten 

 hours after eating, and died in three days ; one who ate less became 

 ill in about twelve hours, and died in five days ; while the adult who 

 partook most sparingly began to feel the ill effects in about fourteen 

 hours, and finally recovered. In the children, the symptoms were 

 slight and transient. Klein found in both fatal cases necrosis of the 

 superficial layers of the mucous membrane of the stomach, fatty de- 

 generation of the liver as in acute phosphorus poisoning, and inflam- 

 mation of the kidneys. Mice fed upon the salmon died, exhibiting 

 lesions similar to those observed in the men ; no germ could be found 

 in the blood of the mice. In the " Carlisle (A) case," twenty-four 

 persons partook of a cold ham, which had been prepared the pre- 

 vious day and kept in a cellar in which mUk and meat " were known 

 to go bad." Two persons died. The only germ which could be 

 found was a micrococcus, which was harmless, when fed by mouth 

 to mice, cats and dogs. In the " Ironbridge case," twelve persons 

 out of fifteen in a household ate at midday of veal pie which had 

 been made the day before and warmed over. Mice were fed upon 

 the pie and upon portions of the veal from which the pie had been 

 made ; those fed on the veal showed no ill effects, while some of those 

 fed on the pie died. In the pie several different species of microor- 

 ganisms were found, and with one bacterium the following interest- 

 ing observations were made : Cultures did not grow well at a tem- 

 perature over 32° and at above 36° no growth took place. All 

 cultures after some days growth possessed a most exquisite and 

 delicate aroma, no trace of putridity being perceptible. 



As might be expected from the fact that the bacterium did not 

 grow at blood heat, subcutaneous inoculations into mice produced no 

 results ; but when mice were fed with the contents of a culture tube, 

 they fell ill and died, but no bacterium could be found in any of the 

 viscera. The obvious inference from this is that the cultures of this 

 microorganism contained a substance which, when introduced into 

 the stomach, produced illness and death, in the latter event severe 

 gastro-enteritis being a conspicuous feature. Since the organism in 

 itself is harmless when inoculated, not being capable of growth and 

 multiplication at the temperature of the animal body, it follows that 

 the substance which caused the poisoning was non-organized and 

 produced by the bacterium. In the " Retford case," eighty persons 



