APPENDIX 337 



tions in which the several products are obtained from 

 mannitol is approximately represented by the equation : 

 3 C a H M 6 + H 2 = C 2 H 4 2 + 5 C 9 H 6 + 2 CH 2 2 



+ C0 2 , 



whilst in the case of the dextrose, the products occur 

 in the proportions : 



2-5C 2 H 6 : 1-5C 2 H 4 2 : 3CH 2 2 : C0 2 . 



There is a close resemblance between these fermenta- 

 tions by B. ethaceticus and those produced through the 

 agency of Friedlander's micrococcus, which renders it 

 probable that this ethacetic decomposition is a very 

 general and typical form of fermentative change (Frank- 

 land). 



VIII. PTOMAINES. 



The author 1 has extracted the following ptomaines 

 from urine in cases of measles, whooping-cough, and 

 erysipelas : 



(a) From Measles. The ptomaine produced during 

 the course of this disease is a white substance which 

 crystallises in small laminae. It is soluble in water, 

 and has an alkaline reaction. It is precipitated by 

 the general reagents used in testing for such bodies. 

 Analysis of the base itself and of its platinochloride 

 correspond with the formula C 3 H 5 N 3 ; and the 

 various reactions of this ptomaine, and the products 

 of its decomposition, prove that it has the constitution 

 of glycocyamidine : 



HN HC 



This ptomaine is very poisonous, and, when adminis- 



1 Dr. A. B. Griffiths, Comptes Rendus de VAcaddmie des 

 Sciences (Paris), tome cxiv. p. 496; Bulletin de la Societe 

 Chimiqne de Paris, 1892, 3 e se"rie, tome vii. p. 250. 



Y 



