SUMMAEY. 43 



from ptomains. The toxins are much more poisonous than pto- 

 mains and each one is produced by a specific germ. 



Some cases of sickness due to food have been classed as ptomain 

 poisoning, when this cause was later discovered to be the ingestion 

 in the food of a particular bacillus which multiplied in the body and 

 by its toxin produced intestinal and other disturbances. Such cases 

 are not ptomain poisoning but may be classed as food poisoning. 



SUMMARY. 



(1) There is undisputed evidence to show that infected oysters, 

 clams, mussels, scallops, and other shellfish may cause typhoid fever 

 and other gastrointestinal disturbances when consumed by suscep- 

 tible individuals. 



(2) The epidemics of typhoid fever, due to ingestion of polluted 

 sea food, have in most instances been traced to shellfish floated in 

 polluted water, although there is also evidence that oysters and other 

 shellfish, grown in polluted waters and directly consumed without 

 transplanting for a time in pure waters, may be the source of typhoid 

 infection. 



(3) The investigations pertaining to the Minisink banquet, held at 

 Goshen, N. Y., on October 5, 1911, show conclusively that the 

 '^Rockaway" oysters served on this occasion were wholly responsi- 

 ble for the typhoid and gastroenteritis cases following this banquet. 



(4) There were 17 well-defined cases of typhoid fever, with one 

 death, and 83 cases of gastroenteritis (diarrhea) traced directly to 

 eating ^^Rockaway" oysters from Jamaica Bay, floated at Indian 

 Creek, near Canarsie, Long Island, N. Y. 



(5) In addition to the typhoid and other intestinal disorders fol- 

 lowing the consumption of ^^Rockaway'' oysters at the Minisink 

 banquet, there were also 10 other cases of typhoid and 16 of diarrhea 

 traced to eating ^^Rockaway" oysters, some of which came from the 

 same lot furnished for the Minisink banquet. 



(6) The bacteriological examination of water and shellfish col- 

 lected from Jamaica Bay shows that this body of water is dangerously 

 polluted; the laboratory data are substantiated by- the sanitary 

 inspection, which shows that millions of gallons of raw sewage dis- 

 charge daily into this bay, and, in many instances, in close proximity 

 to or directly over oyster beds. 



(7) Typhoid bacilli were isolated in pure culture after 7 and 21 

 days from oysters which had been floated at Inwood, Long Island, 

 N. Y., on October 12, 1911, and kept out of water in storage at 39"^ F. 

 Organisms of the B. coli and B. paratyphosus groups were also isolated 

 from oysters floated at Indian Creek, near Canarsie, Long Island. 

 They were probably the cause of the gastroenteritis cases following 

 the Minisink banquet. 



