196 BACTERIAL POISONS. 



ganate yields an acid, C^HjNOj, and from this fact the 

 discoverers conclude that the base is a dihydro-dimethyl- 

 pyridine, C,H,(CH3),NH. 



Physiological Action. — It is moderately poisonous. In 

 small doses it diminishes the general sensibility ; in larger 

 doses it produces trembling, especially of the head ; pro- 

 found depression alternating with periods of extreme ex- 

 citement ; paralysis of the posterior limbs, and death. 



A Base, CjHjjN, isomeric, but not identical, with alde- 

 hyde-coUidine, was obtained by Nbncki as early as 1876, 

 by allowing a mixture of 200 grammes of pancreas and 600 

 grammes of gelatin in ten litres of water to putrefy for five 

 days at 40°. The method used by Nencki for its isola- 

 tion is as follows : The fluid mass was distilled with sul- 

 phuric acid, to drive off the volatile acids, then rendered 

 alkaline with barium hydrate, and again distilled. The 

 distillate was received in dilute hydrochloric acid, and on 

 evaporation gave a crystalline residue of ammonium chlo- 

 ride, and of a salt which formed in long rhombic plates. 

 The latter were separated from the ammonium salt by abso- 

 lute alcohol. The free base was obtained from the salt by 

 treating it with sodium hydrate, and extracting the solution 

 with ether. 



This compound, as already stated, is isomeric with colli- 

 dine, and also with O. de Coninck's base, with which it is 

 possibly identical. The latter, however, will be described 

 separately. 



The free base is oily in character, and possesses a peculiar, 

 not unpleasant odor. It readily absorbs carbonic acid gas 

 from the air, forming after a time a lamellar, crystalline 

 mass of the carbonate. The salt of this base on heating 

 gives off an oil which burns with a smoky flame, and pos- 

 sesses an odor similar to that of xylol or cumol. Nenoki 

 was therefore at first of the opinion that the ptomaine was 

 an aromatic base, probably an isophenyl-ethylamine of the 



/C IT 

 following composition: C^H,— CH\-j^jj3. jje supposed 



