56 THE ROLE OF ALGAE AND PLANKTON IN MEDICINE 



Chi or el la. The activity of this material (effective against Gram positive 

 and negative bacteria) has been shown to result from photo-oxidation and 

 splitting of long carbon chains of the unsaturated fatty acids in 

 Chlorella. 2S ^ The antibacterial substance dubbed "phyceine" by Lesage 92 

 is probably similar to "chlorellin." Related antibiotic agents in Stichococ- 

 cus and Protosyphon have been reported by Harder and Opperman. 286 



An interesting medico-legal application of planktonic distribution re- 

 lates to the diagnosis of death by drowning. 287 - 290 Attempts have been made 

 to prove death resulted from submersion by demonstrating algae in the 

 lungs or the gastro-intestinal tract. It has even been proposed that the 

 time and exact place of the drowning might be determined from the 

 nature and type of algae present. It is clear that inherent faults exist in 

 this method, since the algae may be difficult to identify, and since algal 

 distribution in any area may vary from hour to hour. 



A striking illustration of indirect algal effect is found in human intoxi- 

 cations resulting from ingestion of certain fish. Since 1530, there have 

 been recorded many episodes of fish poisoning involving thousands of 

 people. 291 - 301 Fifty-eight of the best documented have been summarized 

 in Table IX (pages 57-59). 



The most familiar intoxications are the acute "paralytic" shellfish 

 poisonings resulting from eating mussels and clams. The manifestations 

 are primarily neurologic: prickling and numbness of the mouth and 

 fingers, ataxic gait, muscular incoordination, ascending paralysis and ulti- 

 mately respiratory failure. Death may take place in two to twelve hours. 

 Outbreaks have occurred in many parts of the world, predominantly during 

 the summer months. For years there was considerable groping — super- 

 stitious, epidemiological and toxicological — for the underlying cause or 

 causes. It was not until 1928 that Lindner 296 suggested they might reside 

 in the food supply of the fish. This has indeed been proven since then, 

 especially through the work of the groups at La Jolla and the Hooper 

 Foundation. 292 > 294 - 296 . 297 They showed that intoxications result only 

 when shellfish ingest large quantities of the marine dinoflagellate Gon- 

 yaulax (Dinophyceae). These algae can grow so profusely during warm 

 weather that the sea turns a deep rusty red during the day and brightly 

 phosphorescent at night. 



It has been demonstrated that the Gonyaulax contains an alkaloidal 

 type of poison resembling in effect such substances as strychnine, muscarine, 

 and aconitine. It is heat-stable in acid or neutral solution, but it is slowly 

 destroyed by boiling with alkali. It is readily soluble in water and alcohol, 

 but insoluble in ether or chloroform. One-millionth of a gram will kill a 



