§§ yu , 712.] food poisoning. 537 
CioH 2 6N 2 2HCl,PtCl 4 . Susotoxine gives general alkaloidal reactions, 
and is very poisonous. 
§ 711. Other Animal Toxines. —Besides the animal toxines which 
have been already described, there are a number of others ; the follow¬ 
ing may be mentioned :—Isoamylamine, 1 (CH 3 ) 2 CH.CH 2 .CH 2 NH 2 ; 
butylamine, CH 3 CH 2 CH 2 CH 2 NH 2 ; dihydrolutidine, 2 C 7 H n N; hydro¬ 
collidine, 3 C 8 H 13 N ; C 10 H 15 N (a base isolated by Guareschi and Mosso 4 
from ox-fibrin in a state of putrefaction by Gautier’s method ; it forms a 
crystalline hydrochloride and an insoluble platinochloride ; its action is 
like that of curare, but weaker) ; 5 aselline, C 25 H 32 N 4 , isolated from cod- 
liver oil; typhotoxine, 6 C 7 H 17 N0 2 , isolated from cultures of Eberth’s 
bacillus. So far as the published researches go, it would appear that 
other crystalline substances have been isolated from the urine, from the 
tissues, and from the secretions of patients suffering from various dis¬ 
eases ; the quantity obtained in each case has, however, been, under the 
most favourable circumstances, less than a gramme—often only a few 
milligrms. To specifically declare that a few milligrms. of a substance 
is a new body, requires immense experience and great skill; and, even 
where those qualifications are present, this is too often impossible. This 
being so, the long list of named animal toxines, such as erysipeline, 
varioline, and others, must have their existence more fully confirmed by 
more than one observer before they can be accepted as separate entities. 
DIVISION III.—FOOD POISONING. 
§ 712. A large number of cases of poisoning by food occur yearly ; 
some are detailed in the daily press ; the great majority are neither 
recorded in any journal, scientific or otherwise, nor, on account of their 
slight and passing character, is medical aid sought. The greatest portion 
of these cases are probably due to toxines existing in the food before 
being consumed ; others may be due to the action of unhealthy fermenta¬ 
tion in the intestinal canal itself ; in a third class of cases, it is probable 
that a true zymotic infection is conveyed and develops in the sufferer ; 
the latter class of cases, as, for instance, the Middlesbrough epidemic 
of pleuro-pneumonia, is outside the scope of this treatise. 
The development of poisonous toxines in food is largely dependent 
on the conditions under which food is kept. Contamination in the 
smallest degree of certain articles of food in summer-time may easily 
1 Hesse, Chem. Jahresb., 1857, 403. 
2 Gautier, A., et Morgues, Compt. Rend., 1888. 
3 Gautier et Etard, Bull. Soc. Chim., xxxvii., 1882. 
1 Guareschi et Mosso, Les ptomaines, 1883. 
5 Gautier, A., et Morgues, Conipt. Rend., 1888. 
c Brieger, 1885, Ptomaines, iii. 
