Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-09-21
DEADLY PTOMAINES..
A SUBJECT ATTRACTING ATTEN~
 TON AMONG MEDICAL MEN.


 Some Facts of General Interest-The Poi
 sons Which Are Generated in Food.
 Risks of Eating Stale Sausage Fish.
 Warming.
 Probably no other subject is attracting so much attention in the medical world today as that of ptomaines. A ptomaine, says Pro- lessor Victor 0. Vaughan is a basic of aka loidal body formed during the putrefaction of animal matter. It may, therefore, be called an animal alkaloid. The first definite investigations on this subject were made by the learned Danish physician who presided so ably at the eighth international medical congress in 1SS4-Dr. Panum, of Copenhagen. Panum found that putrid blood, even after being boiled and after being treated with chemical reagents, which would destroy all germs, retained its poisonous properties. He boiled this poisonous substance for eleven hours and found that it still retained all its virulence. From this he rightly concluded that the poisonous substance was a non-vola- tile chemical compound. He did not succeed in isolating it, and it has always been referred to as Panum's putrid poison. Panums work was published in Danish, and did not attract much attention for some years.
 In 1888 Bergmann obtained from putrid yeast highly poisonous crystalline substance to which he gave the name Sepsine In the following year ZeulZer and Sonnenschein ob- tained substance which resembles atropia in its physiological action, and in medico- legal investigation Rorsch and Fassbender discovered an amorphous body which gave reactions similar to those of digitaline. Bence Jones and Durpre about this time also obtained from the liver substance which, when dissolved in dilute sulphuric acid, gave the huoreSence of Sulphate of quinine, and which was called by them animal chinoidine. From putrid meat Professor Brieger prepared substance, neuridine, which acted as poison as long as 1t was contaminated with other products of putrefaction; otherwise harmless. It is closely related to two sub stances that occur in the human system in its l normal condition, namely, neurine, one of the constituents of the brain; and choline, which is present in the bile. By putrefac- tion neuridine and the rather harmless choline, are transformed into the highly poisonous neurine. It is remarkable fact 1 that neurine, which is indentical with mus carine, the poisonous principle of toad 1 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.
 POISONS FOUND IN CORPSES The fact that the poisons of putrefaction are of chemical nature accounts for the poisons found in corpses. These poisons bear some resemblance to the alkaloids of the hemlock, strychnine, veratrine, etc A gen. l eral was supposed to have been poisoned by 1 his servant, in Rome, and poison was found ill his body, bearing great resemblance to a virulent poison found ill the larkspur. But l this evidence of murder was overcome by the success of the late distinguished professor of legal medicine in the university, Professor l Selmi, of Bologna, in obtaining the same poison from corpse where every suspicion of poisoning was excluded
 In 1870, Selmi began a series of investiga- tions concerning ptomaines, which was only interrupted by his death. Selmi obtained from putrid flesh extracts which gave re- actions similar to those of morphine. strych- nine and delphinine. But he did not succeed in isolating completely any ptomaine. Nencki, in 1876, first succeeded in determfn- l ing the composition of ptomaine. This substance was obtained from putrid gelatine.
 The poisons like those found in corpses, called ptomaines by chemists, are created by the putrefaction of fish, white of egg, meat, cheese, gelatine and yeast. The presence of moisture Is an essential condition, hence the moist mixture of sausage filling is especially we'll adapted to the formation of these poisons It is matter of observation that O great many cases of poisoning have fol lowed the consumption of sausage or of fish that have been kept damp. The action of the ptomaineS is more virulent when they are introduced into the circulation through wounds, than when they are in the stomach. Hence, it is that cuts received while dis secting corpses often end in death.
 PERSONS WHO ARE SENSITIVE.
 People are not equally sensitive to these poisons. Some persons are so sensitive that fish seemingly fresh will cause them incon- venience. Others are likely to suffer from a peculiar eruption of the skin after eating crabs or Holsters. In the maize porridge, which is called 'polenta," and which is the chief food of a certain class of Italian work men, there is formed by putrefaction in hot weather a poison which causes 'pellagra, ' an eruption of the skin resembling erysipelas, which grows worse in time and finally causes death.
 In every day life the ptomaines give evi- dence of their presence. The frequent in flammations of the fingers of persons engaged in washing dishes are due to this cause. The best remedies for the evil is washing with soap, which acts as mild disinfectant.
 All food, whether vegetable or animal
 must be regarded with suspicion as soon as the first signs of decomposition become noticeable. Especially should great care be taken in times of epidemics. The poisons oi putrefaction are odorless compounds, and il must not always be inferred that they do not exist before the odor of putrefaction is per ceived. These poisons are not destroyed by boiling.
 Four hundred cases of sickness in Suabis have been traced to sausage poisoning from 179S to 1858. The plague like epidemic tha occurred in the Volga district some time agt was traced to the diet of the people in thos, regions, which consisted almost exclusively of fish.
 Ptonaines are divided into two classes those containing oxygen and those which d. not contain this element.-Medical Classics.
 Remode1ing Our School System. expect to meet with much opposition