[92] Edelmann, Mohler, and Eichhorn, _Meat Hygiene_, 1916, p. 182. [93] _Jour. Amer. Med. Assoc._, LXVII (1916), 1908. [94] _Brit. Med. Jour._, II (1916), 139. CHAPTER VIII POISONOUS PRODUCTS FORMED IN FOOD BY BACTERIA AND OTHER MICRO-ORGANISMS In close relation to the cases of infection with animal or plant parasites which have been discussed, there are certain well-established instances of poisoning by substances that have been generated in food while it is still outside of the body. This is the common type of food poisoning in popular estimation, but in point of fact the proved cases of this class are much less frequent than the instances of true infection with bacteria of the _paratyphoid-enteritidis_ group (chapter vi). Thus far the best-known examples of poisoning by the products of micro-organisms are botulism and ergotism. ERGOTISM Ergotism or ergot poisoning is due to the use of rye that has become diseased through the attack of a fungus, _Claviceps purpurea_. It occurred frequently in the Middle Ages when in times of famine the ergot or spurred rye (O.Fr. _argot_, "a cock's spur") was often used in default of better food. In Limoges in 922 it is said that forty thousand persons perished from this cause. Improvement in the facilities for transportation of food into regions where crops have failed, and the use of special methods for separating the diseased grain from the wholesome have greatly reduced the prevalence of ergotism. In Western Europe poisoning from this cause has practically ceased, although Hirsch recorded some twenty-eight outbreaks in the nineteenth century; in parts of Russia the disease is said still to occur in years of bad harvest.[95] The poison ergot itself has long been used as a drug in obstetrics, but its composition is complex and is still not completely understood. Several constituents of ergot have been extracted, and these have been shown to possess different physiological effects.[96] The symptoms observed in the outbreaks of ergotism of mediaeval times are not wholly reproduced experimentally by the drug and are thought to have been in part due to the semi-starvation engendered by the use of rye from which the nutritious portions had been largely removed by the growth of the fungus. BOTULISM