488 



SANITARY SCIENCE. 



succeeded in isolating the poisonous ptomaine of 

 cheese. From sixteen kilograms of one eh 

 obtained 0.."> grain of tin- poi>on ami (lie individual 

 crystals were plainly visible to the rye. Some 300 

 CAMS of poisoning occurred in Michigan from cat- 

 ing twelve dillcrent cheeses, nine from one factory 

 and oue each from three others. Prof. Yanghan 

 ays: " The chee-e was in good condition, and there 

 was iinthinj in the taste or odor to excite suspicion. 

 However, 1'roin a freshly rut surface there exuded 

 numerous drops of a slightly opalescent tluiil which 

 reddened litmus instantly aud intensely/' Surgeon 

 Sternberg, I". S. A., found numerous microcom in 

 this fluid, "but inoeulation of rabbits with these 

 failed to produce any results." Wallace and Wolf 

 hnve each, more recently, detected tyrotoxicon in 

 cheese, the one in Jeansville, Pa., and the oilier in 

 Shamokin, Pa. The symptoms of poisoning are 

 dryness and constriction of the throat, vomiting of 

 thin watery fluid, with ilinrrha-a and watery stools, 

 pulse feeble and irregular, countenance pule with 

 marked cyanosis, tenderness over the stomach, and 

 other symptoms similar to those of arsenic poison- 

 in _. 



6. JtfJflt. Following Yaughan's discovery, New- 

 ton and Wallace obtained poisonous ptomaines from 

 milk used at the hotels at Long Branch when lilt y- 

 four persons were poisoned at two hotels in that 

 place in 1880. Their report is of great value, but 

 lack of space forbids its reproduction here. In 

 Corning, Iowa, the same poison was recently found 

 by Shearer in milk used at a hotel, and in the vom- 

 ited matter of those who drank it. The symptoms 

 of poisoning are similar to those from cheese poison- 

 ing. 



Ice-cream. Vaughan obtained tyrotoxicon from 

 cream whieh poisoned many persons at Law I on, 

 Mich., in 1886; so also did Xovy. It was at lir>t 

 thought that vanilla caused the trouble, but this 

 was soon proved to be a mistake, and the poisonous 

 ptomaine (tyrotoxicon) was isolated from the 

 cream. An interesting account isgiven by Allaben, 

 of poisoning by lemon ice-cream, and by Shearer of 

 poisoning by both lemon and vanilla cream. The 

 symptoms of poisoning are similar to those of cheese 

 and milk poisoning. 



Stale fah. The London Lancet of Feb. 20, 1R8C, 

 gives an account of poisoning by stale fish in which 

 ptomaine was found both in the tish and the con- 

 tents of the stomach, intestines, liver, blood, brain, 

 and urine of the victims. 



Certain diseaxt*, it is believed, may be caused by 

 ptomaines Anthrax, cholera, tetanus, typhoid 

 li-vi-r, and cholera infantnm : there would sectn to 

 be good ground for believing that cholera infantum 

 may re-uli from tyrotoxicon, whieh, as Vaughan 

 Fay.-, is strengthened by '' the fact that infants nour- 

 i-lcd exclusively from the mother's breast are most 

 wholly exempt from this disease." 



As ptomaines are the result of putrefactive 

 decomposition, and as bacteria nrc the cause 

 of the latter (Pasteur), it is necessary to de- 

 stroy the germs to prevent the formation of 

 the former, particularly as nearly all ptomaines 

 arc indestructible by the most powerful dis- 

 infectants, and are not rendered harmless by boiling. 

 Vaiighnn however states that, " in exceptional cases, 

 us in milk containing tyrotoxicon, boiling the milk 

 will destroy both the germ and the ptomaine." 

 The sanitarian, however, will avoid being poisoned 

 by ptomaines by obtaining bis meats and fruits 

 fresh, his cheese, milk, and ice-cream pure : this he 

 will do by knowing when: the meats are cured or 

 canned, and the condition of the dairy from which 

 hi* cheese and milk ore obtained. 



The value of the discovery of ptomaines as a cause 

 of poisoning will lead to a more careful inspection 

 Of our foods, particularly of cheese, milk, and cream, 



See Vol. 



XII. p. 566 

 (p. 600 Am. 

 HI -I '.) ; also 

 Vol. XX. p. 

 ! CO (p. 101 

 Am. Rep.). 



and at the same time remove the suspicion which 

 may have bung over many communities that their 

 people were subjected to wholesale poisoning by 

 some secret enemy. In a medico-legal investigation 

 it> importance is evident. 



Doiiifxtic hygiene is the fundamental principle un- 

 derlying public health- the family is the unit of the 

 nation the fountain must he pure, or the}' seek in 

 vain who try to purify the stream. Sanitary science 

 then should be taught at home, in the school-room, 

 the college, and the university, commencing with 

 the care of the infant and confinning to that of the 

 child and adult. Personal cleanliness, attention to 

 the secretions and excretions, bodily exercise, proper 

 food, drink, apparel, and doiuicil should each be 

 considered. 



1'uUic hygiene, or the conditions necessary for the 

 health of communities, includes the 

 above, and in addition the study of, 1. 

 The climate and how to rendre its vicis- 

 situdes less dangerous. 2. The telluric 

 conditions and surroundings and how to 

 render the land and air dryer by drain- 

 age. 3. The site or location of dwellings, 

 the material of which they are built, 

 their heating, lighting, and ventilation. 4. The 

 arrangements of streets and alleys, their paving, 

 cleansing, and repair. 5. The water supply, win re 

 and how obtained and distributed, its quality and 

 quantity, and the disposal of house-waste atiil sew- 

 age. (." The food supply, markets, (daughter-houses, 

 bakeries, canned and condensed-food factories. 7. 

 The ell'cets of trades, manufactures, and other pur- 

 suits or employments. 8. The location, construc- 

 tion, internal arrangement and condition of tenc- 

 meiit-bnuses, and public buildings, including 

 churches, school-houses, hospitals, and prisons. 9. 

 The management of contagious and infectious dis- 

 ea-es, vaccination, isolation, disinfection, and house- 

 to-house sanitary inspection. 10. Vital statistics, 

 registration of births, marriages, and deaths. 11. 

 | Disposal of the dead, inhumation, cremation, coking, 

 embalming, and electro-plating. 



Probably the most important factors in the propa- 

 gation of disease may be found in the water supply 

 of cities and in the disposal of their sewage. The 

 pollution of rivers and other sources of supply has 

 long engaged the attention of sanitarians and 

 others, and plans for the disposal of sewage in some 

 other manner than by depositing it in the adjacent 

 water-eourses ( have from time to time been tried. 

 When it is remembered that in the large cities of the 

 I'nited States the present plan for the disposal of 

 sewage not only pollutes the water-supply of its own 

 or of neighboring towns, but involves the whole city 

 in a network of filthy sewers whieh underlie the. 

 streets, enter the dwellings, and contaminate the 

 very air we breathe, it would seem that the time had 

 arrived for adopting some other plan for its disposal 

 than that of emptying it into the water we drink, 

 and having its filthy emanations infecting our dwell- 

 ings. Sanitary science has pointed out the remedy, 

 but the general adoption of it is difficult to accom- 

 plish, perhaps will not be attained for many years. 

 It is simply to collect the excremcntitious products 

 (ftcccs and urine) in suitable vessels and either use 

 them as a fertilizer, or destroy them by cremation. 

 The former plan is much the cheaper and is said to 

 he almost self-supporting. In Japan it is done at a 

 profit to the householder who is paid for the deposit. 

 Fhe latter is safer on account of the possible propa- 

 gation of such diseases as cholera and typhoid fever 

 by the "germs" finding their way back into the 

 drinking water of out-lying villages or farms where 

 the fertilizer is used. Omitting the pneumatic sys- 

 tem of Liernur, which requires water-closets, soil 



pi IK'S, mid fecal reservoirs, there are two plans which 

 ! nave been approved by sanitarians as satisfactory 



