CHEMISTRY OF THE PTOMAINES. 207 



perature of tin- room, for from three- days to tlnve we-e-ks. 

 It lias aUo been obtained from he-mnir, twe-lve days in 

 spring: from pike 1 , six days in summer ; from haddock, 

 two months ( BnrK use ll ). Also from putrid mussel, six- 

 tevn days (HRiE(;F,u) ; and from human as well as horse 

 flesh. liiUKCiEli has obtained it from cnltnns of the bac- 

 teria of human lives on jelatin, and in small quantity in 

 rather old cultures of the comma bacillus on beet-broth ; in 

 larger quantity in cultures of th" same ttcrni on blood- 

 sennn. 



I'm; \NSXKV and BAUMANN in 1888 demonstrated the 

 existence of putn si'ine- and cadaverine in the urine of cyst- 

 inuriu, the Ibriner ce instituting about one-third of the 

 total amount of the two bases present. In the feees of the 

 same patient, on the contrary, pntrescine constituted by far 

 the greater quantity, while cadaverine formed but 10 to 1 "> 

 IMT cent. Normal lives, as well as the tews of various 

 diseases with the possible exception of cholera stools, are 

 free from diamincs. It would seem, therefore, that these 

 bases occur in eystinuria as the result of putrefactive 

 changes ^eiinjr on in the intestines; becoming partly ab- 

 sorbed they appear in the urine. In two cases of eystin- 

 uria, reported by HKIEOKU and STADTHAGEN, cadaverine 

 was found almost solely present in the urine. 



According to Mi-xn:u the diamines are proportionate to 

 the amount of eystin excreted, and therefore constitute a 

 fixed symptom, the cause of which is the same as that of 

 the eystinuria. 



Although putres:-iiie is reco^ni/able on about the fourth 

 day of the putrefaction, yet it docs not occur in appreciable 

 quantity until about the eleventh day. The amount that 

 is formed increases as the putre&ction <roes on, so that a 

 Considerable quantity may be obtained after two or three 

 wevks. A very n-ood source for the preparation of putre seine, 

 cadaverine, and nenridine is ji-elatin which has \H'VI\ allowed 

 to decompose in contact with water for some 1 weeks. 

 Neuridine is, appare-ntly, formed first, but is soon ivphuvd 

 by the ti>rmer two bases. In the process of extraction it 

 i> first obtained in the alcoholie- mercuric chloride- pivcipi- 



