IGHTHYOTOXISMUS. 199 



in 1889, but it differed from that of Anrep in the fact that the 

 former gave precipitates with platinum chlorid and tannin, while the 

 latter did not. Anrep's second ptomain is an oily substance, less 

 poisonous than the solid. Both these substances have a paralyzing 

 action on frogs, dogs and rabbits, arresting respiration and the ac- 

 tion of the heart. In cats, they cause clonic convulsions. The 

 heart's action is retarded, and just before death respiration is accel- 

 erated. The more poisonous of these alkaloids, for which the name 

 halichthytoxin has been suggested, produces mydriasis on applica- 

 tion to the eye. 



Vaughan reports the following case of ichthyotoxismus exanthe- 

 maticus : K., a vigorous man of thirty-four years, ate freely of canned 

 salmon, while others at the table with him remarked that the taste 

 of the fish was peculiar and refrained from eating it. Twelve hours 

 later K. began to suffer from nausea, vomiting, and a griping pain 

 in the abdomen ; and six hours later he was found vomiting small 

 quantities of mucus, colored with bile, at frequent intervals. The 

 bowels had not moved and the griping pain continued, while he was 

 covered with a scarlatinous rash from head to foot. The pulse was 

 140, the temperature 102° F., and respiration shallow and irregular. 

 The stomach and large intestines were washed out thoroughly, and 

 ten grains of calomel, soon followed by twelve ounces of solution of 

 magnesium citrate, for the purpose of cleansing the small intestines, 

 were administered. The next day the rash disappeared, but the 

 temperature remained above the normal for four or five days, and it 

 was not until a week later that this man was able to leave his house. 

 The absence of inorganic poisons in the salmon was demonstrated 

 and it was found that subcutaneous injection of twenty drops of the 

 fluid contained in the can caused evident illness and suffering in a 

 white rat. The only microorganism that could be found, either by 

 direct microscopical examination or by the preparation of plate 

 cultures, was a micrococcus, and this was present in the salmon 

 in great numbers. This germ grew fairly well in beef-tea, but 

 the injection of five c.c. of beef-tea cultures of different ages 

 failed to affect white rats, kittens or rabbits. However, this micro- 

 coccus, when grown for twenty days in a sterilized egg produced a 

 most potent poison. The white of the egg became thin,' watery, 

 markedly alkaline, and ten drops sufficed to kill white rats. It is 

 supposed that this microorganism produced toxins only when grown 

 under anaerobic conditions. The same observer saw two similar 

 cases also due to eating canned salmon, and in one of these, the at- 

 tending physician having arrested the vomiting and purging by the 

 hypodermatic administration of morphin, death resulted. This 

 illustrates the danger of interfering with nature's efforts to remove 

 the poison which, instead of being arrested, should have been assisted 

 by the use of the stomach tube and by irrigation of the colon. 



