CHEMICAL BASIS OF TIIH ANIMAL BOD\ 



iii'4 lif' 1 . 1 They are further of considerable and increasing patho- 

 tl interest, and that from tw.i point* of view. In tin- tir-t 

 place, as products of tin- u'-n.-ml putrefactive change- which 

 animal tissues undeigo, they may account tor tip- severe symptom* 

 and not infrequent death which iv-ult- t'rni tin- consuinption a* 

 food of fish, sausages, ami tinned-meats. In the second there 

 appears to he increasing evidence of the formation of s) 

 ptomaines liy tin- organism- rhararii-ri>tir of sp.-cific disea-. 

 that the pathological conditions may be dm- rather to the products 

 formed hy the organisms than to tin- organism* tln-m-elves diivcth . 

 a possibility of no small importance in the liidit of recent prophy- 



laetie le-eaivh. 



While the general reactions of the ptomaines place them, as 



already stated, side hy side with the vegetable alkaloid-, their 

 specific reactions and properties exhibit considerable diflei. 

 both in comparison with ea,ch other and with those of the alka- 

 loids- Some are liquid and highly volatile so that they pass off 

 readily during distillation of their aqueous solutions, othei 

 liquid and noil-volatile, others aijain solid and crystalline. They 

 exhibit equally marked diHeivnces in their solubilities. Thu- 

 neither ben/ol nor petroleum-ether will extract them from their 

 iqiieniis solution. Kther on the other hand dissolves out a 

 fe\v of the ptomaines from an acid solution and a lar^e majority 

 from an alkaline solution. Some are more particularly soluble in 

 chloroform, a few are insoluhle in any of il rents. Amyl- 



alcohol is the one reagent in which as a class they appear to be 

 almost Ljenerally soluble ( Ihie^er). Their behaviour with the 

 u-i'ial alkalojdal precipitant- (mercuric and platinic chlorides, 

 tannie acid, the double iodides of potassium with nn-rcury and 

 other metal-. \-c.) i- equally varied. Tin y are all j-recipitated by 

 phospho-molybdk a-'id. ami most of tin-in yield crystalline com- 

 pounds with a >olution of iodine in hydriodic acid. 1'o-si-s-ed of 

 an alkaline reaction they further act as powerful reducing ayeiit-, 

 many of them <-onvertin.^ ferri- into fern.cv anile-. the reduction 

 bein-4 evidence. 1 by the formation of Prussian blue on the simulta- 

 neoii- addition of ferric chloride. This projN-rty is ho\', 



t-y many vegetable alkaloids and not by every ptomaine . 



i not therefore be regarded aa a specific bh6M 



-iib-i ...utii-r). Some of the ptomaines < 



are extraordinarily poisonou-. producing eH-.-ts which ar< 

 qiiently sjM-cific, Imt in many cases similar to those of certain 



table alkaloids. Others a^ain are quite in. 



The separation of the ptomaines, a- of the vegetable alkali 



involves the application of methods Sta--< Uto's, Hrieger's) 8 which 



1 For owe* in point nee HUIOHIMIIH. .1"A ./ /'/,,/ , (Itciho.T) .! 

 Xix " 481. 



^ 

 * L'ntert. Ob. Ptomaine, n. 1885. B 



