AmMa?a9os.arm'}        Ptomaine  Extracted  from  a  Dog.  207 
putrefactive  products  were'encountered.  The  portion  of  the  stomach 
and  contents  not  used  was  returned  to  the  container — a  screw-top 
Mason  jar — and  the  jar  again  sealed.  No  prosecution  was  made, 
and  the  stomach  still  being  in  the  laboratory  the  following  January, 
a  re-examination  was  made  to  determine  what,  if  any,  decomposition 
products  of  toxicological  interest  might  be  present. 
The  Stas-Otto  method  as  outlined  by  Vaughan  and  Novy  in  their 
work  on  Cellular  Toxins  was  employed  in  this  examination.  Rea- 
gents were  tested  as  to  purity,  and  solvents  purified  when  necessary. 
The  stomach  was  in  good  condition,  though  the  odor  and  presence 
of  considerable  gas  indicated  putrefaction.  As  the  jar  was  tightly 
closed  so  that  the  gas  was  retained,  the  bacterial  action  must  have 
been  largely  anaerobic. 
Strychnine  was  again  found  to  be  present  in  considerable  quantity 
in  the  chloroform  extract,  with  traces  in  the  ether  extract.  How- 
ever, another  body  of  a  brown  resinous  character  giving  reactions 
for  ptomaines  was  obtained  in  limited  quantity  in  the  acid  and 
alkaline  ether  extracts,  in  the  alkaline  chloroform  extract,  and  in 
large  quantity  in  the  alkaline  amylic  alcohol  extract.  Benzine  alone 
of  the  solvents  used,  failed  to  remove  any  of  the  substance  from 
alkaline  solution.  The  amylic  alcohol  extract  yielded  about  two  or 
three  grammes  of  residue.  This  I  subjected  to  the  usual  chemical 
tests  for  strychnine  with  negative  results,  and  then  proceeded  to  the 
following  examination  of  its  properties. 
The  extract  in  color  was  a  clear  dark  brown.  While  of  a  resin- 
ous consistence,  it  was  rather  soft,  though  not  sufficiently  fluid  to 
flow.  The  taste  was  intensely  bitter,  but  more  acrid  than  strych- 
nine. The  odor,  very  strong  and  disagreeable,  resembled  that  of 
certain  beetles.  The  extract  was  readily  soluble  in  water  to  a  clear 
beautiful  golden-yellow  solution  of  slightly  alkaline  reaction.  This 
solution  on  concentration  yielded  under  the  microscope,  first,  yellow 
oil-like  globules,  from  which  later  needle-shaped  crystals  separated 
out  to  some  extent.  A  drop  of  hydrochloric  acid  added  to  a  por- 
tion of  the  aqueous  solution  seemed  to  render  the  odor  and  color 
less  pronounced,  and  on  concentration  on  a  glass  slide  beautiful 
needle-shaped  crystals  readily  formed,  arranging  themselves  along 
radiate  axes.  The  radiate  arrangement  was  visible  to  the  naked 
eye,  but  a  low  magnification  was  required  to  distinguish  the  indi- 
vidual crystals.    This  readiness  to  form  salts,  together  with  the 
