Amsipt?i?86arm*}     Tyrotoxicon  in  Ice  Cream,  Milk,  etc.  459 
beaten,  and  one  pint  of  granulated  sugar  were  added.  The  whole 
was  thoroughly  agitated,  then  allowed  to  stand  at  the  temperature  of 
the  room  until  4  P.  M.,  when  it  was  placed  in  the  ice-box  of  a  re- 
frigerator, surrounded  by  ice  and  here  kept  until  7  A.  M.,  the  next 
morning,  July  10.  Then  three  ounces  of  the  custard  was  stirred  up 
with  distilled  water,  filtered,  the  filtrate  rendered  alkaline  and  agita- 
ted with  ether.  The  residue  on  the  evaporation  of  the  ether  was 
dissolved  in  a  little  water  and  given  to  a  kitten  about  two  months 
old.  Immediately  the  kitten  manifested  the  symptoms  of  poisoning 
by  tyrotoxicon,  which  have  already  been  described.  I  began  the 
analysis  of  this  custard  in  the  morning  before  having  my  breakfast, 
and  getting  a  little  on  my  finger  in  carrying  the  jar,  I  tasted  of  it. 
Within  a  very  few  minutes  I  was  nauseated,  and  ten  minutes  after 
I  vomited.  The  prompt  action  of  so  small  a  quantity  was  probably 
due  to  the  condition  of  my  stomach.  At  2  P.  M.  of  the  same  day, 
I  took  one  teaspoonful  of  the  custard.  Within  thirty  minutes  there 
was  marked  nausea  and  some  violent  retching,  but  no  vomiting.  A  t 
3  P.  M.,  the  symptoms  having  abated,  I  took  a  tablespoonful  more 
of  the  custard.  At  about  3.3Q,  I  began  to  vomit  freely.  The  nau- 
sea continued  for  about  an  hour.  After  this  there  would  be  passing 
sensations  of  sickness.  At  8  P.  M ,  while  visiting  a  patient,  I  was 
taken  very  suddenly  and  sharply  with  nausea  and  griping  pains  in 
the  abdomen.  I  again  vomited  and  had  a  watery  stool.  After  this 
there  was  no  farther  trouble.  The  occipital  headache  mentioned  by 
Dr.  Moffitt  in  his  letter,  was  very  marked  for  some  hours  after  taking 
the  custard.  It  consisted  of  sharp,  lancinating  pains  which  were 
confined  wholly  to  the  occiput.  The  nausea  was  peculiar.  I  cannot 
say  that  there  was  pain  in  the  stomach.  A  sickening  taste  would  be 
felt  in  the  mouth  and  a  peculiar;  very  sickening  odor,  which  I  recog- 
nized as  that  of  the  isolated  poison,  would  intensify  the  nausea.  The 
throat  and  mouth  seemed  filled  with  a  sticky,  tenacious  mucus.  In 
short,  the  effects  on  these  parts  resembled  those  which  I  have  experi- 
enced from  an  overdose  of  atropia. 
I  think  that  this  experiment  explains  the  poisonous  nature  of  the 
vanilla  cream.  The  fermentation  going  on  in  the  custard,  and  probably 
begun  in  the  milk,  was  arrested  in  that  part  flavored  with  lemon  by 
the  freezing  which  was  begun  immediately.  But  while  the  lemon 
cream  was  being  frozen,  that  part  of  the  custard  which  was  to  be 
made  into  vanilla  cream  continued  to  ferment,  and  before  the  freezing 
