Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1888-11-06
DEADLY PTOMAINES.
A SUBJECT ATTRACTING trTeN-
TON AMONG MEDICAL MEN.
SOFA. Facts ef General In'sress-Ths Pot
ssns which A.. oessrsisd In iced.
Rlsls es Eating stale ssasAs. es rish.
A w.rsiag.

lolslsi body formed during The putrefsc,ion
% animal matter 10 may, therefore, 10
c.ll.-i an anisiAl aikAloid The hrst definite
investigators on this subject ~ere made by
the Isarned Danish physician ~ho prs-.dsi
a. ably a the eighth international m~iicsi
oongrs-. IN lssl-Dr. fanum. q Copenhagen
Panum found that patrid blood, even after
l-lng tollcl AMI after Icing trsaied rith
chemical reagents, which ~ouid destroy AL
germs, rstAlnei ia poisonous proIsrtis-. lie
Ioil..i this toisnn0u. sulsiAnos for slsven
hour. AMI foani that 10 stall rv,ainsi AL 10.
virulencs Prom this he rightly ooncinaei
that the poisonous suh~tAnc. vas non-TolA.
tile chemical compound lie did no, s1coe"d
In isolsilng 10. and % has always b~sn r.fsrr~i
10 - rAnums putrid pousorL fanams -ors
was pahllshel IN DANISH, and did not stir-t
much attention Tor sons years
In is0s Dsrsmsnn obtAinsi from putrid
yeas, q highly polsonou, crystalline Substances
10 which hs gave tbs nAms Scysine in The
following year zsulrrr AMI Sonneurchein OBJ
tainssi a substance which resembles atropis IN
IL Psychological action. anil In m"iioo-
legal Investigation RorSsh AMI fastsndsr
discovered an ainorphous hriy which gave
reactions similar b tbo~s q digitalin~
nenoe Joe. and Durpre about this time also
obtained from the liver q substance which,
when dissolved In dilute suiphuric Acii. gave
the fiaorcssncs q sulphAis % qainiDe, and
which wa. cAllci by them animal cbinoidine.
Frum puirsl meat frofc-~or Briegef pFvrar~d
q substance. beuridins, which aetei az
poison a. loug a. 70 was contaminated with
other product. u puirsfAction. o,her~ise
haruile.s II 3. elo-sly related 20 two sub
s;ancss that occur Ia tho human system In iis
normal condition. namely. ncurins, oos 81
tho constituents % the brain, and cbosins,
which 4. prr-su, In the bila by puirsfss
ton, neurilins and the rather harmle-s
choline, are TRANSFORMED into The highly
polsoOus Dsurins IL LA rvmarkAbls fact
that murine, which u indeniical with mus
carins. tho poisonous principls q toad.
stool. and Witch ss normal constituent 81
the human body. should prove - destructive
when introduced into the body from an OUT
sids soarc..
roIsoxs yovSp N coRISrN
The fact that tho polsons % puirefAc,ion
arr q q chemical nature accounts for the
pol-nn. foani In oou-c. Tbe-s poisons bar
soms resemblance o. the alsAloiis % tho
hsmlocs, strychnlne, vsratrine. s,c. A gen
sral was suppo-~i to have t.sn poisoned by
hi. -rrvsnt, IN Home. AMI poison vas found
la hls t.eiy, tsaring great rS-cmblsnos -
q virulsnt polson found In tho larsspur. Bui
thls syidsnos u murder wAs ovsrcoms by the
.ucc.-- - ths late distinguished prOfe--nr q
le.al mslicins In tho university. frUfe~or
sslmi, q Bologna, In obtaining The saDs
Eolson from q coT-s where every suspicion
- Tslisoning wAs sxclndci
In is5O. s-lmi bsgan q -sris- q inv~,iga'
ti0us conosrnlng ptouaines. uhich was Gully
interrupted BY his death Selmi obtAin~i
from putrid fcsh EXTRACT. which gave ~
actions SIMILAR o. tbo-s % morphine. strych-
nine an.l tlslphlnlne. but be dld not ucces,i
In isolailng completely any ptomain~
Ssnckl, tn 1850, nrst succ.ei.i In detsrTnin-
Ing the compazitioa - . ptonlAins THIS
.ul-tAncs wAs obtained from puirid gslaiine
The Ioisons lie tbo-s found In corI~c-,
cAll~i ptomAins- by chemists, ara crvats.i by
The putrsfactlon q Cab. white % egg. NEAT,
ehssr-,, gslafins and yeast The pr~-snce %
mo,sturo Il an e-.sntisl condition. hence tbs
moist MIXTURE % sausage nlling L. -TsciaIly
veil siApted b Tho formation % ths-s
polsonS IL ia matter % observation that
a great many cass q polsoning have fol.
loved the consumption q sausage 90 u hsh
that have l-sn kept damp Tho action Of
tho pt0malBss !. more ,irllsat sbsn they arr
introduced into the circulation through
wounds. than whsn they are Ia the stomach.
IIsncs, u u that cuts revived -hlis dis.
sectlns coT-ss often end In death.
PRISONS WHO ARE sESsfrTvr
People arr not equally sensitive % tho->
paisons Somc Isrsons are - sensitive that
Oh seemingly frssh viii Gauss them iDoon.
ysnisnc~ Othsn arr likely ~ suffer frOm q
PECULIAR eruption u the skin after eating
erals o. lols;srN In the mAiEs poridge,
which IL caiisi ''polsuiA,- and which h tLs
chief food u csrtAln clAs. - Italian work
men. thsre Il formed by putrvfaotlon In ho'
weather = poison Which cause. ''T-llagra,
an eruption q the akin resembling srysirslas,
which gross worss In time AMI finally causes
death.
In every day life the ptomaines give eyi
deuce % their prr~encs. Tie frequent in
rAmmAtions Of tho nngsp % psrsons snsny~l
In washing dishes arr dns % this cause To
ts.t r~ms,liss for the evil !. washing viii
sap. which act. NJ mild dlsinfcctant
All focd, whether Vegetable ~ animal
mus, - regarded with suspicion a. soOa al
tho nrt sisns q decomposition heconl'
nOtioeablA EspsriAlly should great care l.
taken In times % cpldsmios. The poisons d
putrvfActlon arc oiorle.s compounds, ani I
must not always b. inferred that they do mol
srist tsforo the oior % patrefaction u pr
o.ived Thes poiso0s are NJ, destroyed b.
boiling.
-Four hundred cAses % sicknes. IN SuAbll
have tscn traocd 10 sausage poisoning frou
iTgo % iSi1 Tho plague Ike spiiemic tina
occurred In the VOlga district sone time az
was tracei 10 the diet % the people IA thos.
regions, which consisted almost exclusivslj
u fab.
PtOmaines are divided into two clas.es-
tho.s containing oxygen and thoss which IL
ma contain thi. elsment-Me'lical Classes