PTOMAINES AND TOXALBUMINS. 149 
Brieger from putrefying horseflesh which was kept at a low tempe- 
rature for several months. Unlike it, however, the free base has 
an acid reaction, while typhotoxin is strongly alkaline. It differs also 
in its physiological action, being more toxic and producing convul- 
sions; the heart is arrested in diastole. Typhotoxin, on the other 
hand, does not induce convulsions and the heart is arrested in systole. 
Tetanin, C,,H,,N,O,.—Obtained by Brieger from impure cul- 
tures of the tetanus bacillus cultivated in bouillon in an atmosphere 
of hydrogen. (The tetanus bacillus is a strict anaérobic.) Obtained 
subsequently by the same chemist from the amputated arm of a pa- 
tient with tetanus. This base has been obtained, by crystallization 
from hot alcohol, in clear yellow plates which are not very soluble in 
water. The hydrochloride is a deliquescent salt which dissolves 
readily in alcohol. When injected into guinea-pigs or mice in rather 
large doses, tetanin first causes the animal to fall into a lethargic 
condition, followed by increased rapidity of respiration and tetanic 
convulsions. In guinea-pigs opisthotonos is induced, together with 
the characteristic tetanic convulsions as seen in animals suffering from 
tetanus. Three other toxic bases have been obtained by Brieger 
from cultures of the tetanus bacillus, which cause similar symptoms, 
One—tetanotoxin—is given by Brieger the formula C,H,,N. A 
second base, the composition of which has not been determined, is 
called spasmotoxin. 
Cholera Piomaines.—Brieger has obtained from pure cultures 
of the cholera spirillum several of the toxic ptomaines heretofore re- 
ferred to—cadaverin, putrescin, cholin, methyl-guanidin. In addi- 
tion to these he found two toxic substances which appear to be pe- 
culiar products of this microdrganism. One induces cramps and 
muscular tremors in small animals, the other diarrhoea and symp- 
toms of collapse. 
Toxalbumins.—Researches by Brieger and Frankel (1890) show 
that very toxic substances of a different nature are present in cultures 
of some of the pathogenic bacteria; these have been designated by the 
authors named “toxalbumins.” 
Roux and Yersin had previously shown that filtered cultures of the 
diphtheria bacillus contain a toxic substance which produces paralysis 
and death in guinea-pigs and rabbits. This substance has now been 
obtained in a pure state and its toxic action tested by the authors 
first named. It is destroyed by a temperature of 60° C., but remains 
in an active condition in cultures which have been sterilized by scve- 
ral hours’ exposure to a temperature of 50°, or in those which have 
been passed through a clay filter. It is not volatile, and differs exsen- 
tially from the ptomaines and also from the soluble ferments. It 
was obtained as a snow-white, amorphous mass which was ex- 
