170 BACTERIAL POISONS. 



By this method and its modifications Brieger has 

 obtained many brilliant results, among which maybe men- 

 tioned his discovery of mytilotoxine, typhotoxine, and 

 tetanine. However, the method is not free from criticism. 

 The great number of chemical manipulations to which the 

 organic matter is subjected is liable to lead to the formation 

 of some basic substances and to the destruction of others. 

 One is justified in considering the isolated base as pre* 

 existing in the original material only when it produces 

 symptoms identical with those caused by the substance from 

 which it is extracted. There can be no doubt that by this 

 method many ptoma'iues would be decomposed. With it 

 Ehrenbeeg obtained from poisonous sausage only inert 

 bases, and tyrotoxicon, the ptomaine of poisonous cheese, 

 is decomposed both by heat and the hydrogen sulphide 

 employed. The origin of the ptomaines possessing a mus- 

 carine-like action discovered by Brieger has been ques- 

 tioned by Gram, who states that when the lactate of choline, 

 an inert substance which is widely distributed both in plants 

 and animals, is heated, it is converted into a poison with 

 such an action. 



