23^ BACTERIA 



From this statement it will be understood that rolled meat 

 may be a source of infection to a greater degree than the 

 ordinary joint. 



Notwithstanding this negative evidence, more than twenty 

 species of bacteria have been isolated from canned meats 

 and hams, and a considerable number of poisoning cases 

 have occurred from, meat contaminated with bacteria or their 

 products. The general symptoms of such meat poisoning 

 are vomiting, diarrhoea, fever, and more or less prostration. 

 Ballard and Klein isolated a specific microbe from samples 

 of bacon which appear to have caused an epidemic of in- 

 fectious pneumonia at Middlesborough. In 1880 occurred 

 the well-known ** Welbeck disease *' epidemic. A public 

 luncheon was followed by severe and even fatal illness. 

 Seventy-two persons were affected, and four died. A spe- 

 cific bacillus was -isolated by Klein. In 1881 much the 

 same thing happened at Nottingham, in which fifteen per- 

 sons were attacked, and one died. The same bacillus was 

 isolated from the pernicious pork. Again in 1889 an out- 

 break of diarrhoea at Carlisle was traced to bacterially dis- 

 eased pork. But taking these and similar cases at their 

 worst, there can be no doubt that under no circumstances is 

 meat as infective as milk. 



Ice-cream, In 1894 Dr. Klein had occasion to bacterio- 

 logically examine ice-creams sold in the streets of London. 

 In all six samples were analysed, and in each sample the 

 conclusions resulting were of a nature sufficiently serious to 

 support the view that the bacterial flora was not inferior to 

 ordinary sewage. The water in which the ice-cream glasses 

 were washed was also examined, and found to contain large 

 numbers of bacteria. 



Since that date many investigations have been made into 

 ice-creams. It appears that they are often made under ex- 

 tremely foul circumstances, and with anything but sterilised 

 appliances. Little wonder, then, that the numbers of bac- 



