114 APPLIED BACTEEIOLOGY 



is acquired. The well-known anticholeraic treatment of 

 Haffkine belongs to this class. 



Bacterial Toxins. — As has already been stated, micro- 

 organisms produce, as the result of their vital processes, a 

 number of complicated bodies, which are variously known 

 as ptomaines, cadaveric alkaloids, toxalbumens, toxins, etc. 



The pathogenic power of the bacteria which cause the 

 various diseases in man and animals has been shown to 

 result from the absorption into the body of these bodies, 

 which are the result of bacterial activity or metabolism. 



Many of these bodies, when introduced into the animal 

 body, give rise to similar symptoms to those caused by the 

 organisms which elaborated them, so that we may say that 

 such bacteria affect the body chiefly through certain toxic 

 principles which they elaborate. 



The term ptomaines, or cadaveric alkaloids, was first 

 applied to those bodies formed during putrefaction, but is 

 now used for all alkaloids or bodies of a basic nature formed 

 by the activity of micro-organisms. 



Some of the ptomaines are non-poisonous, while others 

 are excessively poisonous in even very minute doses. The 

 toxic bodies are sometimes developed in such articles of 

 food as milk, cheese, sausages, tinned fish, etc., whereby 

 they contain organisms of putrefaction, which, giving rise 

 to toxic ptomaines, cause disastrous effects upon being 

 consumed. 



The alhumoses, or toxalbumens, are bodies of an albumin 

 or proteid-like nature, and, like the ptomaines, are products 

 of the vital activity of bacteria. When separated from the 

 bacteria, by which they have been produced, and introduced 

 into the animal body, they give rise to symptoms similar to 

 those produced by the bacteria themselves. 



The Ptomaines, or Cadaveric Alkaloids. — The ptomaines 

 were first discovered in decomposing animal tissues, as 



