The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-10-25
DEADLY pTOMAINES.
A SUBJECT ATTRACTING ATTeN
TON AMONG MEDICAL MEN.

Some Facts of General Intcrcst-The Pol
sops which Are Generated In Food.
Risks Of Eating Stale sausage or Fish.
A Warning.
Probably no other subject is attracting SC
mich attention IN the medical world today
rs that OF rtomaines. A p;onaine, says Pro-
foss,r Victor c. Vaughan, Is a basic OK aka
loidal BODY formed during the putrefaction
of animal matter It may, therefore, be
called On anin,al alkaloid. The first definite
investigations on this subject were made 10y
the learned Danish physician who presided
SO ably 10 The eighth international medical
CONGRESS ia 1ss4-Dr Panum. IF Copenhagen
Panunl found tha- putrd blood, even after
being boiled and after being treated with
chemical reagents. which would destroy oil
ccrras. retained is poisonous properties. lie
/ boiled tbs poisonous substance Tor eleven
! hours and found that 10 still retained all rs
yirulence From this ho rightly concluded
+ tat ths poisonous substance was ron-vola-
+ hi, chemical compound lie did not succeed
/ il isontin- &c, and IL has always been referred
/ 70 as Paaum's Tu.rid poison. Panums work
was published in Danish, ami did not attrar.
much attention for Some years.
/ Ia is, Desgmann obtained from puirid
Yeast "a hig4i 3 poisonous crystalline substance
I to which DE gave TIE naLe .sepsine. In tie
following yc.r Ieul1cr and Soamcnschcin OBJ
/ famed a distance which resembles atr0p.a in
is phy theological action, and in mciico-
LEGAL investigation Roech and Iassbcnder
discovered an amo.ph0us body which gave
F q. .#Hf ga fsf %
Bence Jones aud Durpre ABOUT this time also
obtained from the liver "a substance which,
when dissolved ia dlll,o ,uiphurc ac.I, save
tie luoreseuce 81 suiphate OF qulnine, and
which was called by them animal chinoldine.
From putrid meat Professor Brieger PREPARED
a substance, neurdine, which acted a. q
poison rs long as II was contaminated with
other products Of putreiacton, otherwise
harmless is closely related % two sub
stances that occur in the human system inits
normal condition. namely, neurine, one OF
the constituents of The BRAIN, and cho.ino,
which is present in .he bile. BY putreiac-
tioa, neuridine and the rather harmless
chollne, are transformed into the highly
poisonous ncurine 1t is a remarkable fact
that neurine which is indentical with mus
carine, the poisonous principle Of a toad
STOOL and which Is a normal constituent Of
the human body, should prove SO destructive
when introduced into the body from an out
side source.
PCIsOSS FOUND ~ CORfSES.
Tho fact that the pOisons Of pI;refaction
are Of q chemical narsrc accounts for the
poisons found in corpses. These poisons bear
some resemblance 10 the alkaloids Of tho
hemlock. s,rYchrinc, veratrinc, etc. \ gen
cral was supposed 10 have been poisoned by
his servant, in Rome, and poison wasf0und
in his body, bcari1g great resemblance 20
q yiruleut poison 'Ound in the larkspur But
this evidence OF uurder was overcome 10y tho
success Of tho late distinguished professor Of
legal medicine ii tho university, Professor
se.ni, OF Bologna, in obtaining tho samo
poison from a corpse where every suspicion
Of poisoning wa excluded.
in 1870. Sel.li began q series Of invcstiga-
tons conccrnae ptomaines, which VS. only
interrupted bg bis death. Scimi obtained
from puT.d le'l extracts which gave re-
actions s-iiilar - those Of morphine. strych-
nine and Iclphiriue. But be did not succeed
in isolailng completely any ptomaine
NencEi, 10 1910, first succeeded in determin-
L
substance was obtained from putrii golat,ne
Tho po-ons Ike those found in corpses,
called ptCma.nei by chemists. are created by
the pu.re, -ctiou OF fish, white Of egg, meat,
cheese, go.atne nd yeast. The presence Of
moisture q an c.,eatial condition, hence the
moist mixture C., sausage filing is especially
well ada~ted ~ the formation Of these
poisons % is matter Of observation that
a great many cases Of poisoning bayc fol
I lowed the consumption Of sausage or Of FISH
that hay, beel kept damp The action Of
the p.Omaincs IS uogc virulent when thcy arc
t INTRODUCED into the circulation through
wounds, iaan when they ere in the stomach.
Hence j. is that cuts received while dis
sectinS cc~psos often eud Ia death.
Pess0ya WHO ARE SENSITIVE
People are rot equally sensitive to these
+ poisons Some persons are SO sensitive that
/ fish seemingly fresh VIII cause them neon
yenienco offers are lisely to suffer from a
peculiar eruption OF the skin after eating
crabs or lobs'ers. In the maize porridge,
which is call~l "polenta," aud which is the
chief food Of /, certain class OF Italian work
men, thsre is formed 10y putrefaction IN hot
weather a p,'son which causes "pellagra,'
an crup ion ~ the skin resembling erysipelas,
which grows worsa in time and finally causes
death.
In evry dry life the ptomaines give cvi-
denco O. thur presence. The frequent in
Examinations ,. the fingers Of persons engaged
in washing dishes are due TO this cause The
bes. relnedi.s for the evil is washing with
soap, which ats as a mild disinfectans.
All bod, whether vegetable or animal,
must % rcg:.-,ied with svspici.n as soon Is
tho us: ssrs OF decomposition become
notice. bic. Especially should great care be
taken IA tines OF epidenIics. The poisoas OF
I putrefs c;iot are odorloss compounds, and 10
must I9t alaays be inferred hat they do not
exist b,iore Ito odor Of putrefact.on is per
ceiycJ. Tblsa poisons are not destroyed by
boiling
Four hurfird cases OF sickness in Suabia
have been N-aced 90 sausage poisoning from
I70S to 1851 Tho plague Ike epidemic that
occurred iI.tho Yolga district some time ago
was traced 20 the diet Of tho people in those
regions, which consisted almost exclusively
Cf fish.
Ptomainss are divided into two classes
A.. w.r,., o.F tf,,c. .,Ifa Il