Typhoid fever in Michigan in 1890 : a summary from reports by health officers, clerks and physicians / compiled under the direction of the secretary of the Michigan State board of health.

  • Michigan. Department of Health
Date:
1893
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Typhoid fever in Michigan in 1890 : a summary from reports by health officers, clerks and physicians / compiled under the direction of the secretary of the Michigan State board of health. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University Libraries/Information Services, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University.

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    Bacteriological Examination.—Number of germs developed on a gelatin plate inoculated with one drop of water: No. I. No. II. Milk. (1) After 24 hours -- 2480 1770 3460 (2) After 48 hours 2580 1890 3460 (3) After 72 hours 1 2580 1890 8460 Remarks on the Kinds of Germs Observed.—In No. I. are two kinds of germs: (a) the green bacillus of water, and (b) a non-liquifying toxicogenic germ. In No. II. are two kinds of germs: (a) the green bacillus of water, and (b) a liquifying toxicogenic germ. In the milk there are three or four kinds of germs, among which there is the same non-liquifying toxicogenic germ found in the well water. Inoculation Experiments.—Kind of animal inoculated with the germs: Rats. Method of inoculation: By injection into the peritonial cavity. Kind, amount, and age of culture used: Twenty drops of a beef-tea cul- ture 24 hours old. Results of the inoculation: Death with all the samples. Post-mortem appearances: These were practically the same with all samples, and consisted of engorgement of the spleen, the mesen- teric glands, liver and kidney. Description of the germs, if any, found in the organs: The toxicogenic germs found in the waters and in the milk were also found in the organs of the animals. In what organs were the germs, if any, found growing? Spleen, liver and kidney. Explanation.—One drop of the water is added to one drachm of some culture medium, such as beef-tea, and this, after it has been kept at the temperature of the body for 24 hours or longer, is used for inoculating animals. Conclusions.—I regard both the waters and the milk unsafe. Of the two waters, that from the well is the worse both chemically and bacteriologically. The milk was examined only bacteriologically. The poison-producing germ in the well water is identical with that in the milk. I am inclined to the opinion that if the typhoid fever was due to one of the waters, the well water is the one more likely to be the cause. Eberth's germ (the so-called typhoid germ) was not found in any of the samples. This, how- ever, does not mean, in my opinion, that the waters would not cause the typhoid fever. I have never yet found Eberth's germ in drinking water (with one possible exception). The river water probably has changed in its character since the sample was taken, but the well water certainly should not be used. V. 0. VAUGHAN, Director of the Michigan State Laboratory of Hygiene. Ann Arbor, Nov. 12, 1890.
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