The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-12-25

qualities is due not to the personal
habits of Mr.. Pig, but to the care
less way in which he has been handled
while being transformed into sausages.
First Found in COrpses.
The name ptomaine has a rather
startling Significance, going back TO
the Greek word for corpse. the first
ptomaines having been discovered In
dead bodies. The name was suggested
In the early eighties by an Italian sclen-
fist, some years after the first exact
knowledge had been obtained of what
the substance actually was that for
centuries had been causing such disas-
trous results to the human beings who
accidentally came in contact with it.
AS hong ago as the time Of the ancient
Hebrews, the danger of this kind of
poisoning had been recognized, al-
though the cause was neither suspected
nor sought after One may still read
in Deuteronomy the command: "Ye
shall not eat anything that dieth of
itself: though shalt give to the strang-
er that is In thy gates, that he may
eat of (which is a direct injunction
to avoid ptonfaines although It hard
! ~ reflects much credit on the hos
| pitality of the ancient Hebrews.
Causes of Food Poisoning.
TOOQ HOlNOullS may DG CdQHGu III
| various ways-the most common cases
being those of meat, sausage, fish. milk
and cheese poisoning. through bacterial
action producing ptomaines. These
| bacterial changes usually take place
| in the flesh before 1t is cured or cook
| ed During this time the bacteria,
| which act by attacking the heterogeneous
| portions of the food and breaking It
up into other substances. some of
4 Ia.
| work so thoroughly that even the
| heat of an oven or frying pan is in
| sufficient to destroy their newly ac-
| quired poisonous qualities. These
| changes take place with great rapidity
! and are almost impossible to detect In
+, their first stages. Later the decom-
! position Is accompanied by charac-
teristic taste or odor: but the food
may have become dangerous before
| these tell-tale evidences are noticeable.
Poisoned Fish.
Fish poisoning is another way in
which the so-called ptomaines have
caused humanity a great deal OF I'M
happiness; though many times this
! type of food is wrongly supposed to be
! guilty Certain fish, for example, have
| poison glands of their own and are
| only wholesome when these glands
| have been removed, and yet others are
| poisonous at certain seasons owing to
changes that are taking place in them
| that give rise to poisonous compounds.
But in many cases the disastrous
effects of eating fish are undoubtedly
to be attributed to the ptomaines pro-
duced by bacteria, either after the Ash
have been prepared for market or on
account of the accumulation of such
! bacteria in infected waters. And here,
also, the danger is fortunately decreas-
ing in proportion as greater scientific
| knowledge not only safeguards the
fish markets, but attends to the puri-
fication of sewage before 1t is permit
ted to enter bodies OF salt or fresh
water.
Persons Most Affected.
Some persons. of course. are more
easily affected by ptomaine poisoning
than others. and general good health
is. therefore, an additional safeguard
against this particular danger. 1t has
been suggested. indeed, that most of
our minor ills could be attributed to
''autointoxication,' or the accidental
poisoning OF ourselves with more or
( less mildly poisonous substances, a ma
jority of them being ptomaines of one
kind and another. This. however, is
simply a theory that has been neither
proved nor disproved, and modern sci
ence claims creult only Tor the ulscOV-
cry of the large number whose exist
ence can be proved by the delicate bac-
THEOLOGICAL experiments that have led
to so many laws that look at first
glance quite unnecessary, and are new
ertheless of vital Importance in add
ing to the comfort and safety of mod
ern living. And these laws are i'm
varlably approved in practice by all
reputable dealers in food products, for
in the long run pure goods are more
profitable and more easily handled
than those in which there are elements
of decomposition.