January 25, 1918] 



SCIENCE 



81 



name given by Selmi to certain basic com- 

 pounds formed in the later stages of pro- 

 tein disintegration. Interest in the pto- 

 mains was especially stimulated by the 

 work of Brieger, who isolated and stuided 

 (1882-1888) the properties of many of 

 these bodies. 



Confidence in the sanitary significance 

 of ptomains has been shaken by many 

 facts. For one thing, ptomains are formed 

 in the later stages of protein decomposition, 

 and by the time they are present, the or- 

 ganoleptic evidences of decomposition have 

 become pronounced. There is little doubt 

 that food containing ptomains would be 

 almost invariably condemned by the senses 

 as nauseating and unfit for use. On tech- 

 nical grounds numerous criticisms have 

 been made with respect to the methods 

 used for isolating and extracting ptomains 

 and for determining their clinical eflPeet. 

 Perhaps the principal reason, however, for 

 the decline in the belief that ptomairts have 

 anj' important share in the production of 

 food poisoning has been the discovery that 

 in many instances the responsibility can 

 be placed definitely upon other factors. 

 Those outbreaks of food poisoning that 

 have been most thoroughly investigated 

 have been found to be due not to the use 

 of spoiled food containing ptomains but 

 either (1) to the presence of true bacterial 

 toxins comparable to the toxins of the 

 diphtheria and tetanus bacilli and not to 

 be regarded as the simple products of de- 

 composition, or (2) to infection with spe- 

 cific bacteria borne in or upon the impli- 

 cated food article. 



Poisoning from bacterial products in 

 food, when it occurs at all. seems to be due 

 to the accidental and occa.sional presence of 

 toxigenic microbes which give ri.se to spe- 

 cific toxins. Little is known about the 

 conditions under which the relatively rare 

 toxigenic bacteria find their way into foo<l 



stuffs. In the best-known example of this 

 type, the severe poisoning due to the pro- 

 ducts of Bacillus botiiUiuis, certain facts 

 seem to indicate a regional distribution of 

 the microorganisms. In this country 17 

 of the 22 recorded outbreaks have occurred 

 in California. There is no record of a 

 single case in Great Britain.- All told, 

 demonstrated instances of food poisoning 

 due to bacterial products are not very nu- 

 merous. 



On the other hand, tlie careful investi- 

 gation of food-poisoning outbreaks has 

 brought to light a very large number of 

 instances of apparent poisoning which are 

 in reality cases of infection with some 

 pathogenic iiiieroorganism. The distinc- 

 tion is practically important. The meas- 

 ures that need to be taken to prevent in- 

 fection are of a different nature from those 

 designed to prevent the use of food con- 

 taining the products of bacterial growth. 



There are still many questions about the 

 use of spoiled foods that need settlement. 

 Some foods such as cheese and sour milk 

 that are loaded with the products of micro- 

 bic activity appear to be used with im- 

 punit.v, but while we are not j'et able to 

 specify with precision the differences be- 

 tween' harmful and harmless bacterial 

 action, there can be little doubt that the 

 almost universal preference for fresh food 

 containing as few bacteria as po.ssible rests 

 on a sound physiological basis. 



Food-borne infections are essentially of 

 two separate and quite independent classes: 



2 A number of obscure poiuts in botulism intoxi- 

 cation remain to be cleared up. The discoverer 

 and leading student of the biology of the botulism 

 bacillus, Van Ermengem, states that the spores are 

 destroyed by 15 minutes' heating at 85° (185° F.) 

 or by ,30 minutes' at 80° (176° F.), but Dickson 

 (Jour. Amer. Med. Association, 1917, 69, p. 966) 

 has recently reported observations indicating much 

 greater heat resistance. Further investigation of 

 this important question is urgently needed. 



