Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1906-12-22
The Chicago Health Department Tells the
Public that Lumpy Jaw Beef Causes
Appendicitis.
The Chicago Eagle Has Made this
Contention for Year and
Is Upheld.

The Health Department Of the city
Of Chicago has finally upheld the con.
tention Of The Chicago Eagle, main.
tained for over year. that lumpy jaw
beef. sold by Chicago packers to con.
sumers after the local ulcers had been
cut away, was the cause Of append.
citis.
In a bulletin just issued by Commits
sioner Of Health Charles J. Whalen.
the following warning to the public
appsars:
In - report to the council Of the
Chicago Medical Society last July, the
Committee Of the Society, appointed to
examine into the suiiiciency Of the I'm.
structions to Neat Inspectors" Of the
Health Department, with reference to
the protection Of the health Of the con.
sumsr and Of the public health, said.
% to actinomycosis, or "lumpy jaw: !"
'The Chicago regulations are distinctly
more severe than those Of other coun.
tries. The committee holds
that the regulations as to condemnation
for abscesses opening Into the digestive
or respiratory tract are unnecessarily
severe In the absence OF secondary
symptoms. Otherwise the rules were
approved"
The results Of a study Of actin0mycO.
els In the human being and In animals,
by the Psychologists Of the Department
Laboratories, had led the commission
er to supplement the original instruc'
tionS concerning the inspection OF
"lumpy jaw" cattle. with Il special or
der, reading as follows:
while actlnomycosiss IL usually con-
fined to the head, and may be said, In
one sense, to be localized disease, and
while some inspectors condemn the part
involved, I believe 1t Is safest and most
practicable to condemn the entire car
cass whenever the actinomycotic OBJ
scess opens into the mouth, pharyny
larynx, or any part Of the digestive or
respiratory tract; or when the lymphat'
ic glands are involved; or where there
are actinomycotic tuinors In the lungs
or where the lesions have become gen
nomycosis appears to run very atypic
course, making the detection OF all foci
inside the muscle very difficult. There
fore, the entire carcass Is to be con.
demIed.
''ln cases where the actlnomycOtlc
LESSONS are positively localized, the in
fected part may be cut away and the
remainder OF the carcass used.
These instructions apply only TO
lumpy jaw There may be other rea-
sons why you should want to condemn
"A carcass, and 1t is then matter of
judgment for you and your men.
But you should never hesitate II you
believe the animal TO be not lit for
human food
That the Departments regulations,
based upon the pathologic study re-
ferred 10, are not unnecessarily Sc.
we're" receives additional proof In a
recent address and discussion before
the Medical Society OF London, Eng,
reported in the Lancet of October IL,
inst page 33G). The subject OF the
address was actinomycosis as an eX-
cltant Of appendicitis, and the facts
adduced certainly indicate one probable
cause OF the increase Of the latter dis
appendicitis.
The essayist, 7. II. Kelloch, first
pointed out how much more frequently
act!Iomycosis was recognized "since
more modern methods Of examination
had been employed"-as in the studies
OF the Chicago Departments patholO-
gIsts. The affection was formerly be.
l!eyed To attack the jaws, the liver
and the lungs almost exclusively In
persons whose lives were spent In the
cOuntry II was now often recognized In
other parts OF the body or In town
dwellers. The star or ray formation
was not always present. and It's alb.
sence must frequently have led to a
negative diagnosis when the affection
might have been recognized by proper
staining. A the fungus or strept0.