THE PTOMAINE POISONINGOASES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13208, 15 February 1905, Page 3

THE PTOMAINE POISONINGOASES.

THE INQUIRY CONCLUDED. THE VERDICTS DIFFER. ' The adjourned inquiry as to the death of fhora&s Trudgeon, who died in Duuect.n. Hospital on January 2G, apparently from the effects of ptomaine poisoning, was continued before Mr H. Y. Widdowson (coroner) at tbo Magistrate's Court yesterday afternoon. Mr J; M. Gnilaway appeared on behalf of lae Gear Heat Company. Jamc3 Philip, storekeeper (recalled), deposed that none of the tins ot tongues bought from him were kept in the window or in a* place exposed to sun or heat, but were kept on a shelf in his store. Witness identifieH two tins produced as two of four (from the same case as those previously sold) that he had sold sinco the opening of the inquiry, ?n<l which Sub-inspector Green stated were rins Professor 331aek had had under examinaiion. Georgo .M. Thomson, analyst, giving additional evidence, stated that the contents of ino of the (previously) unopened tins he treated by Dregendori's process and got two Fxtracts. which he administered to two cats. One of .the animals v;as unaffected, but the other got rid of the substance hy vomiting— to which fact, however, he attached r.o importance, ns there was some salt in the extract. From the tin in respect of which his examination at the previous hearing had been incomplete he got two extracts by another process,' and these were injected into a guineapig and r cat without result. He had' made ft-thorough test and obtained no result, and the method used by him was the only one in order to arrive at a result in regard to ptomaines. He had made a thorough test and found no poisonous ptomaines: tliere were more non-poisonous than poisonous ptomaines. Had there been any poisonous ptomaines he would have found them, and they would have shown their effects. Mr Gallaway: You said something about the appearance of the tongues. I don't know if you attach any importance to that. You said some of them were spotted. Are ro* ninetenths of sheep's tongues spotted? "Witness: It 1 is quite possible. "We did not like the look of thera, but I don't attach any importance to the mere appearance as far as the finding of ptomaines is concerned. Sub-inspector Green: I suppose you test these ptomaines on animals of a. different constitution from human beings. "Would it follow that what would poison a h'uman being would not affect a cat or dog? "Witness: As a general rule, through -the stomach you cannot do much with cats and dogs at all; but guinea-pigs are exceedingly sensitive, and I would have tested with nothing but guinea-pigs, but wc could not get them in town. It was apparent from what 3ogs often ate that what would disagree with human beings would not affect them. The Coroner anked, in respect to cvanide poisoning, if it could be communicated through the hands to the stomach. "Witness: It is rossible. The Coroner: "Would it produce the same symptoms? "Witness: Jso; cyanide is a very rapid pcison. The Coroner: Xot supposing it is in very Small quantities? "Witness: I don't think so. _ The Coroner: They became il! at 2 o'clock - In the morning: would cyanide poison take effect before that? Witi'e?s: I think so; it is a very direct and i&pid poison. The Coroner.: What about absorption? Witness: I could not say; I don't think it could be' absorbed. Mr Gallaway: You have never taken any eteps* to ascertain if it could be. Mr Thomson: No. Mr Callaway: And you cannot tell what the effect of that, absorption would be? Witness: No. ' The Coroner: Supposing these tins had been lying about in the sun, even in a sack, would that set up ptomaine poisoning? Witness: No; ptomaines can only arise from the action of bacteria, and the bacteria must get in somewhere. The Coroner: Supposing Ihey had been subject to the sun's rays, would poisoning be set up immediately thev were opened? Witness: No; there would be no action. Sub-inspector Green: "What time would elapse before a person got ill after eating food containing ptomaines? Witness: So far <is information on the subject goes, it spenis to be upwards of six to eight hours after taking ptomaine-poisoned food. Mr Thomson, having concluded his evidence, said he would liko to make a suggestion that, in the interests of the pnblic and of the meat companies also, it would be a very desirable thing that tins should have upon them the date at which they were turned out, so that their age might be known. There was theoretically no rearon whatever why tinned meats should go bad, but when tins passed from place to place and were much handled and knocked about, the slightest perforation was enough to introduce poisonous germs. The dale would be important as preventing the liability oi old stock being retained. Supposing tins had been wetted and the tin coating had been from any cause worn off. perforation of the iron might take place very lanidly. The Coroner: There is no suggestion of the hind in this case? ' Mr Thomson! No. Mr Gallaway said it would be shown that there was no such thing as old stock with the Gear Company. Professor Black, for the last 33 years professor of chemistry at Otago University, and Government analyst, deposed that he received the two tins nrcduced lor analysis the previous Wcdnc?day from the po'.ice. He received another similar tin at the same time. The three tins contained 12 tongues, and he took out from each tin what amounted in all to a third of the who-e of the tongues, and treated that by Gantier's process for ptomaines. Another third he treated by Dragendorf'a process for,ptomaines and other poisons. By Gautier'? process he took four extracts. The result of his test was that lie got not the slightest trace of ptomaine poison; if there had been such he would have found il. lie tried portion (equal to one-sixth) of the tongues with & small dog, but this had not the slightest effect on it, and also gave the same dog all the extracts he had got by chemical process, and these also had no effect on the dog. These extracts would have contained any ptomaine poison present. He had no hesitation in eating himself a portion of each of the 12 tongue on Thursday last, and thev had no ill clTcct. He saw traces of small black spots referred to by Mr Thomson on one of the tongues, but that was a very common thing on sheeps' tongues, and no consequence attached to it. Mr Gallaway asked. T)r Black if he had analysed the two tongues remaining in the tin partaken from. Dr .lilack said lie dichiiol have them. Mr Thomson, he thought, buried them when he had finished with them. Mr Cmllaway: I think the Gear Company specially asked you to analyse those two remaining tongues?—les. Assuming you, had analysed these two tongues, and assuming that you had discovered ptomaine poison in them after a fortnight's exposure, would that be any proof to your mind that there were ptomaines in the tin when freshly opened?*—None at all. Would the effect of your examination and analysis of the company's tongues iu any way deter you from eating them in the future?— Certainly not; nothing was found in them. Mr Gallaway: The only suggestion • that . death arose from ptomaine wou'd be that nc ptomaine was discovered, Dr Black said he agreed with what Mi Thomson had said in respect to cyanide oi potassium poisoning, so far as he understood

I. It was conceivable that, .cyanide, of iotassium in solution ■ absorbed through the kin might have a Blower action than in other ases of poisoning by" it,' and cause different ymptoms, but he had no.information on the übject. Tho Coroner said the jury had now heard; 11 the evidence, and there was nothing directo go by in it as to, the cause of death. The nen suffered with symptoms in appearance < iuiilar to those.which could be caused by i itomaines from tinned meat. Thero was no < ividence that ptomaines were found in this ' inned moat, and there was no cvidcnco as o how long the young men had had these tins >penod," and they might, have opened them •ome time before eating, and so caused the iroubie. There was simply lliddcll's remark ;hat they had partaken of tinned meat, and ;he trouble was put down, to this. _ The Jury agreed on their verdict in a few minutes, and the Foreman (Mr O'Neill) innounced that in their opinion Trudgeon's Heath was duo to ptomaine poisoning, but that there was no evidence to show where the . poison came from; lUDDELTj'S CA.SE. The adjourned inquest on Walter Alexander Riddell, who died in the Hospital under similar circumstances on January 30, was then continued before Mr C, C. Graham, coroner.. The-Foreman of the Juiy, after the evidence . in Trudgcon's case had been read through by the coroner, desired to ask Dr Black if he found any tracc of any other poison at all. Dr Black said he found none in the food he examined, bub the rest of tho food the men had partaken of was not examined nt ailthat was to say the bread, onions, water, etc. In the feed ho examined there was no trace of any poison of any kind, organic or inorganic. Ho examined for metallic poison also, but found none. 'Mr Gallaway asked if anyone could say affirmatively what the cause of death was without an analysis oi the contents of the stomach, the vomit, and certain internal organs. Dr Black said lio did not think so. They could only come to a negative conclusion. The evidence pointed to ptomaine poisoning, but no one could say what the origin of the ptomaines was. Sub-inspector Green: Would ptomaine be likely to be found in any otlier .of the things they ate? Dr BMc said it might bo found in any nitrogenous food that, hod undergone putrefaction. It might be found in bread that waa stale'and rotten or in bad onions. Mt Ga'itaway said that the police had started off with the idea that the tinned meat wa9 the sourco of the trouble, bat he had present, and if necessary would call,' the Gear. Company's expert to detail the company's methods. During the past six years the company had put out over 10 million pouiids of preserved meats, contained in over three million fms, of which 413,000 -were lib sheep, tongues, and this was the first complaint the company had had of its goods. The Coroner said there was no necessity to go into that or . call the company's expert. Cases of ptomaino poisoning- occurred veiy rarely, but they did occur as they knew, and there was no reflection on any particular brand in the fact. Mr Gallaway said he cou'd produce evidence in prove that during the 22 years the Gear Company had been in existence there had been no suggestion of any ill effects arising from any of their stuffs. The jury agreed that, the evidence was not required. The Coroner said a very careful and ex- ■ haustive inquiry had now been made as to the deaths of the two young men. No doubt from the evidence oi Drs Hotop and Roberts the jury would have little or no doubt in their minds that the cause of death was poisoning in the first instance. There were no -trace 9 of irritant poison, but the symptoms were consistent with ptomaine poisoning, and the post mortem disclosures also, and he thought they would be perfectly justified in stating that the cause of death was ptomaine poisoning, though after careful analysis' lie did' not think they would be justified in concluding from the evidence where the ptomaine canfe from, there not being sufficient ovidonce to show the originating cause of the same. The verdict of the other jury was, to his mind, a very proper one. Without retiring, the Jury returned .'a unanimous verdict that the cause of RiddeU's' death was poisoning, but what the natnre of tho poison was and how it originated there was not suflic-icnt evidence to show.