PTOMAINES AND TOXALBUMINS, 147 
forms a crystalline mass. Is produced in cultures of the cholera 
spirillum and of the spirillum of Finkler and Prior which have been 
kept for a month or more at 37° C. 
Putrescin, C,H,,N,.—A_ base resembling cadaverin and com- 
monly associated with it. Obtained by Brieger from various sources, 
most abundantly from substances containing gelatin and in the 
more advanced stages of putrefaction. It is obtained in the form of 
a hydrate, which is a transparent liquid having a boiling point of 
about 135°. With acids it forms crystalline salts. 
Saprin, C,A,,N,.—Resembles cadaverin and is commonly as- 
sociated with it in putrefying material. Isolated by Brieger. 
Methylamine, CH,.NH,.—Obtained by Brieger from putrefying 
fish and from old cultures of the cholera spirillum. 
Dimethylamine, (CH,),.NH.—Obtained by Brieger from putre- 
fying gelatin and by Bocklisch from decomposing fish. 
Trimethylamine, (CH,),N.—Obtained from various sources, and 
by Brieger from cultures of the cholera spirillum and of the strepto- 
coccus of pus. 
TOXIC PTOMAINES. 
Neurin, C,H,,NO. —First obtained by Liebreich in 1865 as a 
decomposition product of protagon from the brain. Obtained by 
Brieger from putrefying muscular tissue. When crystallized from 
an aqueous solution it forms five- or six-sided plates ; from an alco- 
holiec solution it crystallizes in the form of needles (Liebreich). This 
base is toxic in small doses. In frogs the injection of a few milli- 
grammes produces paralysis of the extremities. Respiration is first 
arrested and the heart stops in diastole. Atropine appears to be a 
physiological antidote to the toxic effects of neurin. In rabbits it 
produces profuse salivation. The pupil is contracted by the direct 
application of a concentrated solution. 
Cholin, C,H,,NO,.—First obtained from hog’s bile by Strecker 
in 1862. Has been obtained by Brieger from various sources, in- 
cluding cultures of the cholera spirillum. It is also found widely 
distributed in the vegetable kingdom. May be prepared from the 
yolk of eggs by the method of Diakonow. Cholin is obtained in the 
form of a syrupy, alkaline liquid which combines with acids to form 
deliquescent salts. At first this base was not supposed to have toxic 
properties, but more recent researches have shown that in compara- 
tively large doses it produces symptoms resembling those caused by 
minute doses of neurin. 
Muscarin, C,H,,NO,.—This toxic principle of poisonous mush- 
rooms has also been obtained by Brieger from putrefying fish. It may 
be produced artificially by the oxidation of cholin. In small doses 
it kills rabbits and frogs. In the rabbit it produces lacrymation and 
