264 CHEMISTRY OF THE PTOMAINS. 



Frogs seem to be less susceptible to the action of this poison than 

 mice or guinea-pigs. In the latter, it produces a short time after 

 injection an abundant periodic flow of secretion from the nose, mouth 

 and eyes. The pupils dilate and the eyeballs project. Violent 

 dyspnoea then comes on and predominates until the death of the 

 animal, which does not take place for twenty-four hours or more. 

 The heart is stopped in diastole. 



Pohl (1898) has studied the effect of synthetic ethylenediamin 

 upon animals. The subcutaneous injection of 1 gram in rabbits 

 (IJ k.) produced no effect until after the lapse of a day, when a 

 serous exudate formed at the point of inoculation. Death from 

 parenchymatous nephritis followed on the third or fourth day. 

 Larger doses produced clonic convulsions and paralysis of the ex- 

 tremities. In dogs, subcutaneous injections had no effect, but in- 

 travenously the diamin proved fatal. 



Trimethylenediamin (?), C3Hj„N2(?), is a toxic base isolated by 

 Brieger (1887) from cultures of the comma bacillus on beef-broth. 

 It may be stated here that from the same source, cholera cultures, 

 Kunz (1888) obtained a base which he considered to be identical 

 with spermin or ethyleneimin (see next chapter). It is present, 

 however, in exceedingly minute quantity, and occurs in the mercuric 

 chlorid precipitate, from which it is obtained by the following 

 method : The precipitate is decomposed by hydrogen sulphid, the 

 filtrate evaporated to dryness, and the residue taken up with abso- 

 lute alcohol and precipitated by an alcoholic solution of sodium 

 picrate. The precipitate thus obtained consists of the picrates of 

 cadaverin, creatinin, and of this new base. It is boiled with abso- 

 lute alcohol to remove the insoluble cadaverin picrate ; the filtrate is 

 evaporated to expel the alcohol, and the bases then converted into the 

 platinum double salts, whereby the easily soluble creatinin platino- 

 chlorid can be separated from the corresponding less soluble com- 

 pound of the new base. 



Owing to the small quantity of this substance present, a complete 

 study of its properties has not as yet been made. It gives difficultly 

 soluble precipitates with gold chlorid and with platinum chlorid ; 

 the compound with the latter crystallizes in long needles. With 

 picric acid it gives a precipitate consisting of felted needles, which 

 resemble creatinin picrate; they melt at 198°. Phosphomolybdic 

 acid yields a precipitate crystallizing in plates, while potassium bis- 

 muth iodid gives dark-colored fine needles. 



In its physiological action it seems to be identical with the basic 

 substance isolated from choleraic bodies by different observers. It 

 causes violent convulsions and muscle-tremor. The action of the 

 synthetic base has also been studied by Pohl and apparently it is 

 more toxic than the preceding. The action of the heart is slowed 



