20 
Alkaloids  in  Dead  Bodies. 
J  Am.  Jour.  Phariru 
(      Jan.,  1S81. 
ON  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  ALKALOIDS  IN  DEAD 
BODIES  (Ptomaines). 
By  Brouardel  and  Boutmy. 
Translated  from  "  Journal  de  Pharmacie  d'Anvers,"  Nov.  1880,  pp.  444  to  446,  by  Frederick  B.  Power. 
If  the  organs  of  an  individual,  asphyxiated  by  carbonic  oxide,  be 
analyzed  some  hours  after  death  they  will  be  found  free  from  poison,, 
but  if  the  same  viscera  be  examined  eight  days  later  it  will  be  found 
that  they  contain  a  solid  organic  base,  presenting  the  general  characters 
of  the  alkaloids,  and  capable,  when  given  in  small  doses,  of  killing 
frogs  and  guinea  pigs.  It  is  thus  certain  that  the  process  of  putrefaction 
gives  birth  to  organic  alkaloids,  even  independent  of  cases  of  poisoning. 
In  the  second  case  the  authors  discovered  a  poisonous  ptomaine  in  a 
subject,  poisoned  by  arsenious  acid,  in  this  respect  in  perfect  accordance 
with  the  observation  of  Professor  Selmi  of  Bologna,  who,  in  1873,  met 
with  the  same  ptomaine  in  the  bodies  of  two  persons  who  had  died  of 
arsenical  poisoning ;  it  is  thus  seen  that  the  formation  of  the  ptomaines 
can  take  place  in  individuals  who  have  died  without  the  administration 
of  poison  as  well  as  those  who  have  been  infected,  and  that  even  when 
the  toxic  substance,  as  in  the  case  of  arsenious  acid,  possesses  strongly 
antiseptic  properties. 
It  can  now  be  foreseen  the  importance  of  the  ptomaines  to  medico- 
legal experts,  the  interest  which  the  study  of  their  mode  of  formation,, 
their  nature  and  their  composition  presents,  and  in  the  case  of  an 
investigation  demanded  by  justice,  the  means  to  be  employed  to  pre- 
vent their  formation  in  the  space  of  time  which  inevitably  intervenes 
between  the  autopsy  and  the  moment  when  the  analysis  of  the  viscera 
is  commenced.  The  first  results  at  which  Brouardel  and  Boutmy  have 
arrived  in  this  investigation  are  as  follows : 
The  general  properties  of  the  ptomaines  are  those  of  the  organic 
alkaloids,  and,  most  commonly,  their  toxic  action  is  not  less  than  that 
of  the  most  energetic  poisons. 
There  exist  several  distinct  ptomaines  which  present  a  decided  dif- 
ference in  their  chemical  and  physiological  properties,  some  of  them 
being  violent  poisons,  while  others  possess  no  toxic  action,  but  as  a 
general  rule  it  may  be  said  that  in  six  cases  out  of  ten  the  ptomaines 
are  poisonous. 
Each  case  of  putrefaction  does  not  appear  to  give  birth  to  distinct 
ptomaines,  for  the  authors  have  found  the  same  alkaloid  in  the  bodies 
of  individuals  who  had  died  under  absolutely  different  conditions  : 
