Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1886-10-13

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ing of look as though they were due to the
presence of some foreign poison"
The reporter read to DR.. Gross the fol-
lowing extract in reference to poisoning
ease which occurred a few days ago in
Michigan, according to a dispatch from
Ann Arbor:
men OF the ice cream when recently poll
soned number of persons ut, Newton,
Mich, has made the important discovery
that tyrotoxicon, the active element Ia poi
sonous cheese, which he discovered ssme
time since was also present In tae ice cream,
and was the cause of the sickness. This it
Is said, proves that tyrotoxicon Is due to tho
decomposition OF milk, and may be devel-
oped In any milk which Is kept in impure
atmosphere or unclean vessels. The gern
seems to multiply very rapidly, and q smalI
amount OF tainted milk will poison whole
can. 1t is DIR. Taughn's theory that tyro-
toxicon has much to- do with cholera In
iantun, the symptoms of which are sfinilax
TO the symptoms of cheese poisoning.
"Dr. Vaughn's theory is very plausi-
lle." said Prof. Gross. 81 fully agree
with what he says about the children. I
firmly believe that much of the cholera in
fantum is due to impure milk. have not
studied this subject of ice.cream poison
ing, but believe II should be thoroughly
ventilated"
Medical Inspector J. Howard Tayl lor, of
the board of health, said that the cause of
the poisoning was pure speculation: at Is
only by chemical snalys Sis" he said, "that
the cause can be thoroughly determined.
have never had any case of the kind. IL
might be owing to the copper; 1t might bs
owing to the milk. Cows sometimes eat
poisonous substances, and these become
doubly 50 when worked up. Then, again,
the cause might be from some impurities
in the utensils used; or last, but not least,
some foreign substance might have been
introduced by design. The use of decom-
posed corn starch and the like might re-
suit in severe, possibly fatal, poisoning. II
such thing were to occur here it would
be my duty to investigate it."
Some of the occurrences quoted having
been called to the attention of DR.. w. g.
MacConnell, he said: "Any thing almost
might cause these distressing affairs.
Many people have habit of boiling cream,
in copper vessels not properly cleaned.
Corn-starch, when fermenting, which is
the initial stage OF decomposition, may be-
come an active. poison, because putre-
factive changes take place, which
Is due to the ptomaines general ted
by the micro organisms. or course
these micro-organisms act differently
from those which produce fermentation.
j have frequently been called in to sec
people apparently poisoned by canned
goods; they always think the tin is the
cause. This is not so; it is all a mistake;
the cause is the incipient stage Of putrid
decomposition which the meat and soup is
undergoing when canned. So il may be-
with ice cream or any thing else which
contains any animal substance, such as
milk, and the poisoning following these
cases may and often does result fatally"
j. Frank Hayes, one of the pharmaceu-
tical examiners appointed by Mayor Smith
and an analytical chemist, said Ia st even
ing: This is very serious matter, and
too much attention can not he paid 10 IL.
don't agree at all with those who attri-
butte the poisoning to the use Of copper or
unclean cans. There's no acid in the ice
cream to form any Injurious compound
with the copper, and I don't think they
allow cans to go uncleaned any length of
time. My idea of the whole thing is that
IT'S owing TO bad drainage. The cows are
fed on unwholesome food or drink fouled
water and give forth a diseased milk,
which, think, is sufficient to account for
the numerous attacks so recently occur
ring and which have created such a SEN
sation.