Ptomaine

to'ma-in, in medicine, a poisonous substance formed by the decay or fermentation of meat and vegetables. Spoiled sausages, cheese, and fermented canned meats and vegetables sometimes develop a ptomaine poison sufficient to cause death. Chemically, a ptomaine is an alkaloid compound of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. There are over 200 kinds. Some may be formed by chemicals. Those which reach the table in food are thought to be bacterial products formed by bacteria in putrescent food. One sort, formed by the bacteria of bad milk, is found in ice cream. The poison of a deadly mushroom is thought to be a ptomaine. The bacteria of lockjaw and typhoid fever produce ptomaine poisoning. "There is no greater duty devolving upon the housewife," says Dr. Wiley, "than the careful study of all the ways in which ptomaine poisoning can occur and to look after the house carefully every day to see that not a ptomaine can enter into anything she eats. I know no higher study than this and it is one that may preserve the health of all dear to her."

Chickens that have hung long in imperfect cold storage are likely to contain colonies of bacteria; fish too long in the market become tainted, that is to say, infested with bacteria; baked beans, if imperfectly canned, canned vegetables into which air and germs have found the way, and a boiled potato left to spoil, are full of bacterial germs. The modern theory is not that these foods contain sufficient poison to kill, but that the germs introduced into the alimentary canal multiply with rapidity in the intestines and produce the ptomaine poison.

Canned goods should be thrown away if the odor is at all suspicious. Fresh vegetables are free from danger. A high degree of heat kills the dangerous bacteria. For this reason it is safest to recook canned beans before serving. Stale fish and sausage may be rendered absolutely harmless by thorough cooking. Hash made of cold potatoes and bits of meat that have stood around should be cooked beyond all question. The cause of frequent ptomaine poisoning in Germany has been assigned to the custom of eating uncooked sausage. The death of the musician, Anton Seidl, at Brighton Beach a few years ago was traced to a supper of pickled fish eaten uncooked. The fact that, of the party eating the same food, some individuals eat with fatal effect and others escape without harm is explained in part by the presence of the toxin-producing bacteria in colonies. A spoonful of beans or a piece of canned salmon may contain bacteria, and other servings be free from germs.

See Poison