TOXINS. 1/3 



violent muscular spasms from which the patient suffers. In 

 diphtheria, although the condition in the throat may be one 

 of severe inflammation, it is, of itself, insufficient to explain 

 the profound prostration and other symptoms of general 

 poisoning which the case manifests. 



The first bacterial poisons to be studied thoroughly were 

 those called ptomaines. Observing the poisonous effects 

 which follow the injection into animals of certain ptomaines 

 derived from bacterial cultures, it was suggested that similar 

 ptomaines, formed by the action of bacteria in the living 

 body, might account for the symptoms of many of the in- 

 fectious diseases. The ptomaines were most readily studied 

 because of the comparative facility with which they could 

 be isolated in a condition of purity, where their exact 

 chemical nature could be determined. 



" A Ptomaine is an organic chemical compound, basic in 

 character, formed by the action of bacteria on nitrogenous 

 matter." (VAUGHAN and Now.) 



The peculiar coloring which distinguishes cultures of the 

 bacillus pyocyaneus is due to a ptomaine called pyocyanin 

 and its derivatives. 



A group of substances of a similar nature called leuco- 

 maines has been discovered, which are formed within the 

 body and not by the action of the bacteria. Leucomaincs 

 may then be defined as " basic substances which result from 

 tissue metabolism in the body." (VAUGHAN and Now.) 



Further study has demonstrated, however, that the char- 

 acteristic features of the infectious diseases are not due to 

 ptomaines. Some of the poisons formed by bacteria have 

 been described as albumens and have given rise to the 

 name toxalbumen. It appears, however, that bacterial 

 poisons are not necessarily of an albuminous nature either, 

 and at the present time it seems best to call the bacterial 

 poisons whose chemical nature is uncertain simply to.ruis. 



