Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-01-17

which act by attacking the nitrogen
GUS portions Of the food and breaking
1t into other substances, some of which
are poisonous, complete their work so
thoroughly that even the heat of an
oven or frying pan issinsuf1cient to de-
stroy their newly acquired poisonous
qualities. These changes take place
with great rapidity and are almost i'm
possible to detect In their first stages,
Later, the decomposition is accompan,
led by a. characteristic taste or odor;
but the food may have become danger
u before these tell tale evidences are
noticeable.
''The remedy lies in stringent laws
regulating the sale Of any food pro-
duct that is open to suspicion-and
especially in removing from every Gre
allure that has been sacrificed to the
human appetite the Intestinal tract
whsrel these dangerous organising are
found; in greatest abundance. The. pass
sage of such laWsssh based syponsthe work
Of the psychological laboratories, has
already m~arvelously reduced the. num-
Der of reported cases of ptomaine poi
soning-a danger that must have been
vaguely realized by primitive man CEN
turtles before the presence Of any kind
Of bacteria was even d~istantly sus-
pected.
"Fish poisoning is another way in
which athe so-called ptomaines have
caused humanity a great deal of i'm.
happiness; though. many times i. this
type of food lis wrongly supposed to
be guilty, CertainS.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 ow-
ing to changes that are taking place in
them that give rise to poisonous COM
pounds. But in many cases the dis
astrous effects of eating fish are I'M
doubtedly to be attributed to the
ptomaines produced by bacteria, either
after the fish have been prepared for
market or on account of the accumula-
ton Of such bacteria in infected wa
ters. And here, also, the danger is
fortunately decreasing in proportion
as greater scientific knowledge not
only safeguards the fish markets, but
attends to the publication Of sewer
age before it is permitted to enter bod.
les of salt or fresh water.
I'm this study OF the ptomaines lies
also the secret Of the modern de-
velopment of laws governing the milk
supply of our big cities and the en-
ployment of experts to maintain a
standard of purity in various dairy
products. The omnipresent bacteria,
are also in evidence in the milk of i'll
kept daries, and it is only by the
greatest care in the handling of every
object that comes between the COW
and the milk consumer that the danger
can be comparatively avoided. Be.
fore the modern scientific study OF
milk and its products there were un.
doubtedly many Of poisoning
that remained unexpected to those who
experienced them; and the known
cases, since the subject was better
understood, have included even ice
cream and custards in which bad
milk was the dangerous element.
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 TIC
'auto-intoxication' or the accidental
poisoning of ourselves with more OF
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 disproyed. and modern sci