POISONING BY PTOMAINES.

Evening Post, Volume LXIV, Issue 119, 15 November 1902, Page 5 (Supplement)

POISONING BY PTOMAINES.

The wholesale poisoning of children at a picnic in Victoria, suspected to be due to the development of ptomaines in hamsandwiches, and a still more recent case where several people were poisoned with brawn, have - drawn attention to a serious danger, against which ordinary precautions do not always avail. Not only is the subject an obscure one to the general public, but science has still much to learn in regard to it, and in older countries when cases ,of this kind are reported, diligent investigations are made by the highest authorities. In September six serious caf-es occurred in one household in Sheffield, attributed to a pork-pie purchased at Derby, aud one case, that of a woman aged 68, terminated in death. The pic was' brought to the house by visiting relatives, and was cut for the evening meal. About midnight, two or three of the family were seized with severe internal pains, followed by sickness and diarrhoea ; the others were taken ill later. Samples of the suspected food were examined by Professor Delepine, of Owens College, Manchester. The results "almost entirely exonerated any ante-mortem, condition of the pig from being responsible for the outbreak, and the flour, lard, and Reasoning employed were also above suspicion." Apparently, "either the meat or jelly, or both, used in the pie became infected in the course of preparation." Moreover, the professor succeeded in isolating a bacillus belonging to the colon group, which he declared to be undoubtedly responsible for the pathogenic qualities acquired by the pork-pies. He wrote : " The evidence as to the relation of the bacillus to the epidemic is absolutely clear. The bacillus in question has been isolated (1) from pork-pie sent me on Bth September; (2) from porkbone received on same date ; (3) from the blood, spleen, and intestines' of .a fatal case ; (4) from the blood, spleen, bile, and intestines of several animals 1 that have died in two or three days from the efl'ecls of feeding on the porkpie and the pork-bone ; (5) the bacilli .obtained from aU»lhese sources are identical in appearance; (6) animals inoculated with the bicillus have died, and in their blood the same bacillus has been found again ; <7) four specimens of blood obtained from patients who had been ill after eating of the pork-pie have given with the bacillus clear serum reiction; (8) the blood of normal persons and of patients afllicled with typhoid fever has given no similar reaclioh. with the bacillus ; and (9) I have also been able to ascertain the presence of the same bacillus in a pork- pie ■which Professor Robertson, of Sheffield, sent me.'' The colon group of bacilli, it was explained, are excreta,!, and, might easily nave been conveyed by the air without any' 'negligence on the part of the butcher. To all appearances (according to Dr. Robertson, the Sheffield Health Officer) the deadly pie was a normal one, but the jelly and the outside of tho pork showed that a growth of organism had taken place. In many cases of ptomaine poisoning, individuals 3iave escaped through detecting a peculiar taste or unusual colour in the food, and refusing to eat it. The only safe course is to reject ail animal food at all " high," sour, or fermented, or which exhibits any unusual colour, odour, taste, or suspicion of taint of any description. Such signs may be the only indication of deadly poison. Mr. H. Bodley writes that "common sense should have some share in the discussion of questions supposed to have been lifted for ever to the realms of abstruse study." Otkeis besides our correspondent have deplored the aberrations of scientism when divorced from sound judgment. Mr. Bodley says that from his own observation he can testify that " presence of air is not necessary and absence of air assists the production of ptomaine pois>6n." This is quite possible. The hermetic sealing of tins, of preserved provision is necessary to exclude, not air itself, but the living germs, fungoid or bacterial, with which, air commonly abounds. The preliminary treatment by heat is usually sufficient to destroy such germsj in tho food itself. If, however, such hviug germs are enclosed they may multiply and infect the whole, however perfectly the enclosing vessel may have been sealed.

The news that a Japanese, judicial official from Osaka has bee,n given a high post at the Siamese Court is a pie°e of information which (according to Ihe Times correspondent) was arousing in Paris a large amount of anxiety, which was not altogether a matter of pretence. That portion of the press which seeks always to pour oil on the flames expressed its conviction that this appointment was the forerunner of a general invasion of Japanese into Siam under the friendly eye of England. The Nelson municipal abatlohs will be open for work at the end of the present month. The Chief Government Vorercnarian will attend the formal opening.