Am'sipt.?ilSarm'}     Tyrotoxicon  in  Ice  Cream,  Milk,  etc,  455 
three  hours,  then  gradually  subsided,  and  everybody  felt  stretchy,  and  yawned 
in  spite  of  all  resistance.  The  throats  of  all  were  cedematous.  One  or  two 
were  stupefied ;  others  were  cold  and  experienced  some  muscular  spasms.  A 
numb  feeling,  with  dizziness  and  momentary  loss  of  consciousness,  was  com- 
plained of  by  some.  Temperature  was  normal,  and  pulse  from  90  to  120. 
Tongue,  dry  and  chapped.  All  were  thirsty  after  the  vomiting  subsided,  and 
called  for  cold  water,  which  was  allowed  in  small  quantities,  with  no  bad 
results.  After  getting  out  no  one  of  the  victims  was  able  to  be  in  the  hot  sun 
for  several  days,  and  even  yet  (about  ten  days  after  the  poisioning)  the  heat 
affects  myself.  I  attended  twelve  persons,  besides  being  sick  myself,  and  all 
were  affected  pretty  much  the  same  way.  Several  complain  yet  of  inability 
to  retain  food  on  the  stomach  without  distressing  them.  The  man  who  made 
the  cream  took  a  teaspoonful  of  it,  and  he  vomited  the  same  as  those  who  ate 
a  whole  dish,  but  not  so  often  nor  for  so  long  a  time.  All  are  affected  with  an 
irresistible  desire  to  s'eep,  which  can  scarcely  be  overcome.  Even  yet,  some 
•of  us  feel  that  drowsy  condition,  with  occasional  occipital  headache. 
Yours  fraternally,      "R.  C.  MOFFITT,  M.  D." 
It  will  be  seen  from  the  above,  that  the  symptoms  produced  in  the 
persons  agree  closely  with  those  observed  in  the  cat.  Cases  of  poison- 
ing from  ice  cream  are  by  no  means  rare,  and  I  hope  that  those  who 
have  the  opportunity  will  not  fail  to  test  for  tyrotoxicon.  In  the 
xeport  of  the  Brooklyn  Board  of  Health  for  1885,  an  instance  is 
given  of  the  poisoning  of  more  than  100  persons  from  ice  cream, 
sent  out  from  one  restaurant.  The  chemist  was  unable  to  detect  any 
mineral  poison.  The  injurious  results  were  attributed  to  the  use  of 
decomposed  gelatin ;  but  no  gelatin  of  any  kind  was  used  in  the 
Lawton  crearn.  Other  cases  occurring  in  [New  York  and  Brooklyn, 
have  been  attributed  to  the  employment  of  artificially  prepared  vanil- 
lin for  flavoring ;  but  the  vanilla  extract  used  in  the  Lawton  cream 
was  not  poisonous,  as  has  been  shown. 
As  I  write  this,  I  notice  in  the  daily  papers,  the  report  of  the 
fearful  poisoning  from  ice  cream,  near  Leamington,  IN".  J.  The  papers 
state  that  the  poisonous  substance  is  arsenic,  but  how  this  has  been 
determined  is  not  given.  I  suppose  that  arsenic  has  been  named 
from  the  symptoms.  If  it  be  true  that  the  cream  was  made  from 
milk  brought  in  by  the  quart  or  gallon,  by  those  participating  in  the 
festivities,  the  chance  of  mixing  some  milk  containing  the  germ, 
which  must  produce  the  poison,  with  the  good  and  thus  contaminating 
the  whole,  was  as  favorable  as  it  could  well  be.  Of  course,  if  a  chemi- 
cal analysis  shows  the  presence  of  arsenic,  the  question  is  settled  ;  but 
in  all  similar  instances,  chemical  analysis  has  demonstrated  the 
absence  of  mineral  poisons. 
