57i 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. I., No. 20. 



matter, Guaresehi and Mosso followed the method 

 of Stass-Otto, applying exactly the same procedure 

 in the conlrol search with fresh brain-tissue; and, on 

 account of the negative results invariably obtained 

 in the latter, the aTithors are able to guarantee the 

 absence of pre-existing ptomaines in fresh flesh, or 

 of any substances similar to those which are found 

 after putrefaction, when pure ether or chloroform is 

 used in the extractions. In the experiments, 36 

 kilograms of brain-tissue were placed in a glass 

 balloon, and left at a temperature of 10°-15° C. 

 for one to two months. The mass was then ex- 

 tracted with alcohol acidulated with tartaric acid, 

 using, in all, 147 litres of alcohol. The final ether 

 solution left au alkaline residue, which, dissolved in 

 dilute hydrochloric acid, gave characteristic precipi- 

 tates with the general alkaloid reagents, and several 

 well-defined colored reactions; but, though present, 

 the jjtomaines (or alkaloids) were in far too small 

 quantity to admit of determining their composition 

 by analysis. Trimethylamine, coming, doubtless, 

 from the lecithin present in the brain-matter, was 

 likewise obtained, together with an abundance of 

 basic and ammoniacal products. 



Physiological experiments, made on frogs with both 

 aqueous antl ether extracts, of the putrid brain-mat- 

 ter, led to the conclusion that tlie ptomaines formed 

 possessed an action analogous to that of curare, 

 though less energetic. A few drops of the extract, 

 applied directly to the detached heart of a frog im- 

 mersed in a .7 % salt solution, exercised upon it an 

 immediate eSect, diminishing the frequency of the 

 systole and diastole, but inci-easing the vigor of 

 the pulsation. In studying the action of the extract 

 on nerves and muscles, a frog was rendered motion- 

 less by destroying the spinal cord; after which the 

 achilles tendon was prepared in the usual manner, 

 the sciatic nerve being placed upon the electrodes, 

 and excited every ten seconds. .3 cc. of the pto- 

 maine containing extract was then injected under 

 the skin of the back. After ten minutes, an irregu- 

 larity appeared in the contraction of the gastrocne- 

 mius; and, since all the conditions of the experiment 

 remained the same, the irregularity is to be ascribed 

 to the poison. From this point the contractions were 

 no longer regular: they gradually diminished little 

 by little, and finally ceased altogether. On increasing 

 the force of the irritation, there was still no further 

 movement. The sciatic nerve of the other side, in- 

 tact, had likewise lost its excitability, and the animal 

 was iu as complete a state of muscular relaxation as 

 if it had been poisoned by curare. But the pupil was 

 dilated, and the heart motionless. 



In order to obtain the ptomaines in larger quanti- 

 ties, recourse was had to blood-fibrine. Large quan- 

 tities of fibrine (140 kilos) were allowed to putrefy 

 for five mouths; at the end of which time it was 

 transformed into a tliick fluid holding a small quan- 

 tity of solid matters in suspension; the reaction being 

 strongly acid, and the odor very intense at the com- 

 mencement, but less strong later. For the extraption 

 of the alkaloids, the method of Gautier and Etard 

 was followed; the final slightly alkaline fluid being 

 extracted successively with chloroform, in all, twelve 

 times. By evaporation of the chloroform, an oily 

 residue was left with an odor of scatol and of pyri- 

 dine (or eicutine). Tliis residue was purified by solu- 

 tion in tartaric acid, decolorized by extracting the 

 acid solution with ether, and then reprecipitated by 

 an excess of potassium hydroxide in the form of oily, 

 brown droplets, which quickly rose to the top of the 

 fluid. This precipitate was readily dissolved by ether, 

 and, on evaporation, was left as an oily, brown resi- 



due with strong alkaline reaction, only slowly soluble 

 in water, and then rapidly transformed into a resin. 

 A hydroclilorate was readily obtained, crystallizing 

 in fine lamellae, sometimes rectangular, resembling 

 somewhat the crystals of cholesterin. With a solution 

 of the hydrochlorate, auric chloride gave a yellow 

 crystalline precipitate, followed by the reduction of 

 the gold; platinic chloride, an abundant pale-yellow 

 crystalline precipitate ; iodine in potassium iodide, 

 a kermes-browu precipitate; phosphotungstic acid, a 

 pale-yellowish precipitate, etc. Chloroplatinates from 

 seven different chloroform extractions were prepared 

 for analysis by treating a solution of the hydrochlorate 

 with an excess of platinic chloride. An immediate 

 deposition of a flesh-colored precipitate, light and 

 crystalline, insoluble in water, alcohol, and ether, took 

 place. Dried at 100° C, the analyses of the various 

 products showed essentially the same composition, 

 pointing to the presence of only one ptomaine in this 

 putrefaction. The results correspond more or less 

 closely with the formula (CmHisN . HClj-jPtClj, the 

 ptomaine itself being probably CioH,.,N". Bodies 

 having the same apparent or closely related compo- 

 sition have been previously discovered: coridine, a 

 homologue of pyridine, found in the oil of coal-tar 

 by Tlienius; a base, CioHj^N, discovered by Vohl 

 and Eulenberg in the fumes of tobacco, also termed 

 coridine ; a base obtained by Neucki i in the putre- 

 faction of gelatine with pancreas, and which he 

 deemed an isomer of collidine. 

 He ^ considered its constitution to be expressed by 



CgHj — CH •^ yjTT", fiat is, isophenylethylamine, and 



that it is derived from the putrefaction of tyrosin, 

 a normal product of pancreatic digestion, according 

 to the following equation : — 



CaHuNOj = CjHiiN + CO, + O. 



Gautier and fitard,^ while studying the alkaloid- 

 like bodies produced by putrefaction, isolated two 

 bases, which, from the analyses of the platinum salts, 

 corresponded to parvolin and hydrocollidin. Sonnen- 

 schein and Zuelzer* obtained from flesh extracts, 

 which had become putrid by standing at 25° C. for 

 several weeks, a small quantity of a crystalline sub- 

 stance, which behaved similar to atropin, dilating 

 the pupil of the eye, and increasing the pulsation of 

 the heart, etc. There is also a noticeable similarity 

 between the ptomaine obtained by Guaresehi and 

 Mosso, and the tetrahydromethylquinoline of Jack- 

 son. The physiological action of the alkaloid from 

 putrefied fibrine is analogous to that of the ptomaine 

 from putrid brain-matter. Guaresehi and JIosso pro- 

 pose to experiment further iu the hopes of better 

 establishing the nature of the ptomaine in question, 

 and to make clear its origin and constitution. 



R. H. CHtTTENDBSr. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



Precocity in a chicken. 

 A Bkaiima chicken — now five weeks old, and 

 raised by my boy — was brought into the house two 

 weeks ago with a broken leg. On the same day a 

 weak chicken, just out of the egg, was also brought 

 in ; and after two or three days both chickens were 



1 Ueber tlie zersctzung 

 der laulnis niit pjinlcrefis. 



- Jtmrn. prakt. cheni., xxvi. 51. 



:i Comptes reiidun, xuiv. 1298. 



* Berliner kliiii.iche loochensahrift, 1809, No. 2. 



