The record-union., 1898-06-01

a coat Of mucus over them, the person
who is about to eat them may be sure
that putrefaction has set in. though IT
may not yet be perceptible to the
taste. Oysters and fish may begin to
putrefy before they are taken from the
water, but even so. if eaten immedl-
ately, are less apt to hurt the consumer
than those that begin to putrefy after
being out of the water. Nothing IS
more rife with ptomaines than the track
| of shot in a bird. Everybody has
tasted that rank, cheesy, bitter taste
in partridge, grouse or quail. Again, II
may be that a bird is suffering from
ptomaine poisoning from eating some
kind of berry or vegetable before 1T is
shot. and if this is the case it is mucn,
more apt to transfer ptomaines to the
consumer than a bird that was perfect
! ly healthful when killed.
At certain periods of decomposition
| these ptomaines are poisonous: at 9TH
erS they are not. After decomposition
begins, when one set finishes its work
| another set takes it uD at once. A
French. butcher killed pig on Friday
The latter sold his half in the form of
sausage to a large number of custom
ers, who cooked and ate it on Mon
day and Tuesday, and seventy people
We're thereby made violently sick, and
eight of them died. Thereupon the po-
lice forbade the further sale of the poi
soned meat But butcher No. 1 who
had made sausages also of the same
pig meat. declining to throw away his
food took it home, and he and his
family consumed it on Wednesday, and
not one of them was made sick. The
people who were made i'll received the
food at just that period when the pto-
maines were poisonous
1t is often recorded that a number
of people are made sick by food par
taken while attending picnics, and as
rule they are those who eat ice
cream and certain kinds of meats. In
the celebrated poisoning at Wappin-
gers Falls, the evil was laid by some
to tainted ham, by others to copper
vessels used in cooking. But copper
cooking utensils have been used for
centuries, and there is no we'll authen-
ticated case of copper poisoning on rec
ord in consequence. But the process
of producing ptomaine can and does
begin in unclean vessels, as well as in
disease, and in changes Of temperature.
Absolute cleanliness for all cooking
he rlll
housekeeper. Old country women be-
lieve that thunder sours milk; it is
not the thunder but the change in tenn
perature coming with the thunder
storm. Cheese poisoning is rarely
heard of, yet cheese is full of pto
maines. Rich cheeses produce indiges-
| ton with some, which is a mild form
of ptomaine poisoning but because the
organs are healthy it passes away. The
man who eats cheeses, he who eats
shad roe and the girl who takes straw
berries and cream, equally are ex-
posed to the misunderstood ptomaines.
But vital resistance saves US, if it did
not the race would soon be extinct One
group Of hints the doctor throws out,
is worthy of especial attention, and we
therefore present them in full:
Cows that are driven a long distance
or are crowded together and boxed up
in cars, without food or water, for days
at time, are very apt 20 develop them
The same is true Of human beings.
When man or woman Is overworked-
or, better, oyerworried, for few are
overworked-andt that exceedingly tired
feeling takes possession Of the body,
alkaloids are forming there. Whether
the person falls i'll or gets better de-
pends on the amount and strength Of
the vital resistance.
Appetite is the sentinel for digestion.
If any food gives the proper counter
sign TO the appetite let it pass along
the line. If you want a thing to eat,
no matter when or how or where, eat
it, for it won't hurt you. Nobody ever
dies from eating. 1t is almost impos-
sible to eat too much and be comfort
able afterward. Even the smallest
child knows when to quit. Indigestion
warns us all There is a great deal
more scare than actual scientific knowl-
edge about ptomaine poisoning. Few
ptomaines have been isolated by chem
icai tests and there may be hundreds
yet to be discovered and separated. In
the meantime we need not be so curl
Gus as to what they are so long as we
can take our hung beef, shad roe, and
cheese with a relish. Our parents got
along very we'll with the ptomaines and
why shouldn't we? Let us keep well
and take our chances; there is moth
ing to fear.