252 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



purity it was perfectly harmless. It is closely related to two sub- 

 stances which occur in the human system in its normal condition, 

 namely, neurine, one of the constituents of the brain, and choline, 

 which is present in the bile. By putrefaction, neuridine and the rather 

 harmless choline are transformed into neurine, which is highly poison- 

 ous. It is a remarkable fact that neurine, which is identical with 

 muscarine, the poisonous principle of a toad-stool (Agaricus musca- 

 rius), and which is a normal constituent of the human system, should 

 prove so destructive when introduced into the body from an outside 

 source. 



The proof that the poisons of putrefaction are of a chemical nature 

 is of the utmost importance. The fact affords an explanation of the 

 presence of poisons which have been found in corpses, subjected to 

 examination in cases where murder was suspected ; for the poisons 

 formed by putrefaction bear a certain resemblance to the alkaloids of 

 the hemlock, strychnine, veratrine, etc. Thus, there was found in the 

 corpse of General Gibbone, in Rome whose sudden death excited a 

 suspicion that he had been murdered by his servant a virulent poi- 

 son, which occurs in the larkspur. However, the rare occurrence of 

 this poison led to a more careful examination of the substance found, 

 which indeed bore a great resemblance to the vegetable poison re- 

 ferred to, but was ultimately recognized as having been formed in the 

 corpse, for Professor Selmi, of Bologna, obtained the same substance 

 from the corpse of another person, where every suspicion of poisoning 

 was excluded. 



Brieger was eminently successful in the preparation of the poisons 

 found in corpses, and which are termed " ptomaines " by chemists. 

 According to his investigations, they are created by the putrefac- 

 tion of white of eggy meat, fish, cheese, gelatine, and yeast, all of 

 them substances used as articles of food. The presence of moisture is 

 an essential condition, whence it follows that the moist mixture of 

 sausage-filling is especially well adapted to the formation of ptomaines. 

 In accordance with this is also the observation that a great many cases 

 of poisoning have occurred after the consumption of sausage or of fish 

 that had been kept damp. A careful supervision of the markets and 

 a destruction of all spoiled food of animal origin should be strictly 

 insisted upon especially so, as it is known that the poisons of putre- 

 faction, when once formed, are not to be destroyed by boiling or by 

 roasting. The action of the ptomaines is more virulent when they are 

 introduced into the circulation through wounds than when they are 

 brought into the stomach. Cuts and other wounds received while 

 dissecting corpses have often been the cause of blood-poisoning ending 

 in death. The savages of the New Hebrides are not only acquainted 

 with the properties of poison of this kind, but make use of it in their 

 wars. They plunge the points of their arrows, which are made of 

 human bones and provided with grooves, into a corpse, about a week 



