320 A MANUAL OF BACTERIOLOGY 



formulae of Von Schweinitz's ptomaines have not 

 been ascertained. 



Various bases, of unknown composition, have 

 been extracted from urine, faeces, and tissues in 

 certain infectious and contagious diseases; and in 

 addition to these there is another class of animal 

 alkaloids which have been termed leucomaines by 

 Gautier. According to Gautier the leucomaines 

 are excretory products (like urea, carbonic acid, 

 etc.) formed by ' vital physiological processes ' from 

 albuminous substances, consequently they must be 

 eliminated from, or destroyed in, the system, or 

 disease will be the result of their poisonous action. 

 "We resist, therefore, incessant auto-infection by two 

 distinct mechanisms ; the elimination of the leuco- 

 maines by means of the excretory organs, and by 

 the destruction of the leucomaines by means of the 

 oxygen contained in the blood. 'Some of these 

 leucomaines are exceedingly poisonous, and when 

 retained may give rise to very serious toxic symp- 

 toms. Brieger and others, however, deny that any 

 such bodies are formed, or at any rate have yet 

 been found in the tissues of the living body, or 

 that they owe their existence to the tissues. They 

 consider that they are simply absorbed from the 

 intestinal canal where they are formed by bacteria ' 

 (Woodhead). 1 



It should always be borne in mind that ' the 

 discovery of ptomaines is complemental, not ant- 

 agonistic, to the germ theory/ 



1 A full description of the leucomaines is given in the author's 

 book, Researches on Micro- Organisms, pp. 121-134. 



