POISONOUS ALKALOIDS AND ALBUMINOIDS. 36 1 



with ferrocyanide of potassium there is a yellowish amorphous precipitate; 

 with picric acid a yellow precipitate composed of delicate needle-shaped 

 crystals ; and with a watery solution of bichloride of mercury an exceedingly 

 insoluble acicular crystalline precipitate is thrown down. This substance 

 and the reactions obtained with it may be taken as typical of the whole 

 group, although there are certain differences ; for instance, cadaverine 

 treated with chloride of gold gives a very soluble substance, whilst with 

 chloride of platinum there are thrown down well-formed very insoluble 

 crystals. Mydaleine is exceedingly soluble in most of its combinations, 

 and it is at present almost impossible to separate it from the mother liquid ; 

 in fact, its salts have not yet been separated, and in consequence it has 

 been found impossible to determine its exact chemical nature. These, 

 along with saprine, were obtained by Brieger from flesh that was being 

 decomposed by the action of putrefactive micro-organisms. 



Cadaverine and putrescine are both poisonous, giving rise 

 to local death of the tissues along the course of the intestine ; 

 they have, however, not nearly such marked general toxic 

 activity as have some of the other alkaloids. They are all 

 somewhat volatile, and cadaverine as we have already seen 

 is very readily formed where the cholera bacillus is allowed to 

 grow and act on proteid matter such as egg albumen. Of a 

 more poisorious nature is neurine, a substance that is also 

 formed in connection with the putrefaction of flesh ; it has 

 been separated by Brieger and is readily obtained in crystalline 

 form by the addition of chloride of platinum. Choline, 

 which was supposed at one time to be identical with neurine, 

 and is by Brieger said to be the same substance, is really 

 hydrated neurine. These two substances are exceedingly 

 toxic and appear to have an action very similar to the vege- 

 table poison, curare. A very similar substance, muscarin, 

 has been described by Schmiedeberg and his pupils, as 

 occurring in a kind of poisonous mushroom, and was found 

 to have a composition very like that of choline and neurine. 

 It is an extremely toxic substance and is specially interesting 

 from the fact that we have it formed as a vegetable alkaloid 

 in the mushroom, whilst it has also been found in putrid 

 fish, thus giving us another link between those so-called 

 animal alkaloids found in decomposing albuminoid matter 

 and the vegetable alkaloids. This substance is a most 

 powerful muscle poison, its action being somewhat like 

 that of eserine. 



It will be remembered that not long ago there was a sad 

 case of poisoning in Dublin, in which the wife and family 

 of a weU-known journalist died after partaking of mussels. 



