Year: 1879

The Death of Four Persons from Entlns
Raw Ham.


The Chicago Times of recent date
says: A short time ago an alleged case
of spasm- provoking trichina occurred in
this city, and a number of people who
thought they knew more about uncook-
ed, diseased pork than the unfortunate
deceased who ate it could not believe
that such q thing as the real trichina
that killed people did exist or could ex-
ist hereabouts. To prove that it could
not, according to his own theory, GER.
tain physician ate piece of meat which
was supposed to have caused the mis-
chief, and after having duly announced
the fact he calmly awaited results. he
is yet calm as far as heard from, and has
not as is known experienced any i'll re-
suits from the piece of meat which he
ate.


Whether the pork was diseased or not
is an open question; but it is asserted
that the doctor did not hesitate to boil
it thoroughly before he ate it. This was
a precaution which probably he did not
deem necessary to make public, but SCI
entists say it makes all the difference in
the world about diseased pork from
which trichina can be developed, and
the general impression among those who
heard of the experiment is that he ate
the pork nearly raw or only par-boiled.
There has recently occurred very dis
tressing case which, if it does not set at
rest the question of the tendency of dis
eased pork, not thoroughly cooked, to
create trichjna, and in such serious
form as to be fatal, should at least, it
would seem, call for some very thorough
and exhaustive inquiry.


Intelligence reached the city yester-
day that q whole family had died from
trichina caused by eating ham, which
was presumably insufficiently cooked.
In Gridley, ILL.,, resided until few days
since very respectable German family,
consisting of man, his wife and three
sons. They were in the habit of par
taking of ham freely, and within the
past week tho boys sickened and died.
The mother finally succumbed to illness
and also died, and when the news
reached this city yesterday, the last
member of the family was upon
what was believed to be his deathbed.


The boys and their mother died in
the greatest agony, and DR.. Taylor, a
physician of Gridley, who attended the
family, had no doubt about the cause of
death being trichina of malignant
form. The father also was suffering
from the same complaint, and betrayed
all the symptoms of completely-develop.
ed trichina. DR.. Taylor dispatched
specimens of the ham eaten by this un-
fortunate family, and also piece of the
body of one of the boys deceased, to
Mr.. Edward Mancher, the opticiap Of
this city, and the latter gentleman ap-
piled number of crucial microscopic
tests to these subjects. The results
fully substantiated the theory of trichina
us the cause of death, as the microscope
clearly discovered thousands of these
death. dealing parasites in small pieces
of the ham.


So thick we're they that Mr.. Mancher
said last evening that he could clearly
distinguish no less than ten perfectly
formed and large-sized trichin@ in q
piece of the ham no bigger than a pins
head, and that in larger pieces they
abounded by the hundred and by the
thousand. They are 80 abundant that
life in the smaller parasites cannot be
discerned at all, as they have to be
placed between the two pieces of glass,
and the point of the finest needle can
scarcely define them, and yet they
caused the agonized death of whole
family. There is intense excitement in
and around the locality where this mel
ancholy fatality occurred.