PEPTOTOXIN. 329 



which, however, can only with extreme difficulty be brought to crys- 

 tallization in vacuo. 



Salkowski in eight digestion experiments with fresh fibrin obtained 

 a poisonous extract in but one case. On the other hand, putrid 

 fibrin or prolonged digestion, both implying bacterial activity, yield 

 a poisonous product. Peptic digestion of serum-albumin, egg- 

 albumin, and meat likewise gave negative results. In view of these 

 facts as well as its presence in putrefying proteids, Salkowski con- 

 cludes that a peptotoxin (in the sense of Brieger) does not exist. 

 That poisonous products develop in meat and in proteids on putre- 

 faction is well established. In 1891 Brieger ascribed a proteid 

 nature to peptotoxin, excluding it from the bases. Stadthagen exam- 

 ined normal urine for peptotoxin, but failed to find it. 



From animals with extensive burns Kijanitzin has isolated, by 

 means of Brieger's method for peptotoxin, from the urine, blood, 

 and especially the organs, a substance resembling peptotoxin in 

 chemical and physiological behavior. Atropin antagonizes its action. 

 The clinical symptoms in cases of extensive burns are closely allied 

 to those observed in animals when a part or whole of the body is 

 varnished. Rabbits die when ^— 1 of the body-surface is varnished. 

 Death in these cases has been explained by excessive loss of heat or 

 by lack of excretion of waste products of the skin. Kijanitzin holds 

 that the varnishing alters the chemical products of cells of the skin 

 so that poisons are formed and carried throughout the body as in 

 skin-burns. 



Peptotoxin, when in its purest condition, as shown by its failure 

 to give the biuret test, possesses a neutral reaction. Its behavior 

 to Millon's reagent is quite characteristic ; it gives a white pre- 

 cipitate which on boiling becomes intensely red. Because of this 

 reaction, Brieger is inclined to regard this substance as a hydroxyl 

 or an amido derivative of benzol. The ptomain can be extracted 

 from acid as well as alkaline solution by amyl alcohol — more diffi- 

 cultly in the cold than on heating. It is absolutely insoluble in 

 ether, benzol, and chloroform ; very soluble in water. It is not 

 destroyed by boiling, by passing hydrogen sulphid, or by strong 

 alkalis ; but is destroyed, however, when the putrefaction lasts longer 

 than eight days. For its behavior to reagents, see Table I. 



Various observers have shown that pepton possesses a toxic action, 

 and some have been led to regard this toxicity as not due to the 

 pepton itself, but rather to the presence of this or some other 

 ptomain. At least Brieger found one specimen of dry Witte's pepton 

 to be perfectly harmless ; whereas, the fresh pepton formed by fibrin 

 digestion possessed strong toxic powers. Moreover, this non-poison- 

 ous pepton when exposed to the action of gastric juice was found to 

 yield the poisonous substance. It is indeed probable that pepto- 

 toxin is not a distinct compound but rather a mixture as in the case 



