400 TEE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



PTOMAINES AND PTOMAINE POISONING 



By EDWIN Le FEVRE, A.B., M.D. 



THE subject of food poisoning is one that is commanding a con- 

 stantly increasing attention on the part of the general public. A 

 brief resume therefore of the most important facts relating to ptomaines 

 and ptomaine poisoning together with some deductions based thereon 

 may be of interest to all who would be informed on matters relating 

 to their physical welfare — certainly so to those who are practical con- 

 servators of the public health. 



Ptomaines are chemical compounds of an alkaloidal nature formed 

 in protein substances during the process of putrefaction. In order to a 

 clear understanding of the subject, emphasis is to be laid on the fact 

 that they are purely chemical bodies formed out of the medium in 

 which they occur. 



In this respect they are to be differentiated from the toxins, which 

 are poisons of unknown composition, formed within the bacterial cell 

 itself and in the case of certain organisms, given off to the medium in 

 which they grow. They are also to be differentiated from another class 

 of compounds known as leucomaines, which may in some instances be of 

 like chemical composition, but which are formed only within the living 

 body, usually as the result of tissue metamorphosis. From these, when 

 not properly eliminated, we get the varied phases of auto-infection. 



Putrefaction is the biochemical process by which all protein matter 

 is reduced to the inorganic state from whence it came, thus completing 

 the life cycle. This change is brought about by the action of micro- 

 organisms. A certain group of bacteria have the power to split up the 

 complex protein molecule and thus form new and simpler compounds. 

 As a result of their action we have formed first albumoses and peptones 

 and from these we have formed the amino acids which are the great 

 foundation stones of the proteins. These are still capable of sustaining 

 bacterial life and the splitting-up process continues. As a result we 

 may get a large number of products, solid (crystalline), liquid and 

 gaseous — and among them may be some of the basic compounds which 

 we call ptomaines. 



So far about sixty ptomaines have been isolated and studied and of 

 these about one half are more or less poisonous. It is to be borne in 

 mind that the so-called ptomaines are not a distinct class of chemical 

 compounds, but differ widely both in chemical composition and physical 

 characteristics. Indeed it may be said that they have only this in 

 common, that they are basic and contain nitrogen. Some of them are 

 comparatively simple and well-known organic compounds like the simple 



