PTOMAINE POISONING.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7731, 6 February 1905, Page 2

PTOMAINE POISONING.

AN EXPERT'S OPINION. (Per Press Association.) WELLINGTON, Feb. 5. In conversation with the local heajl'h oflicer over the cases in ptomaine poisoning in Dunedin a Post reporter asked if tlH?;x? was any simple antidote or remedy for gen'eral and immediate use in cases of | ptomaine poisoning, and was asstuv 'ed that there was not. The symptoms were those of gastro-enteritis', and laymen could not he sure wheI t-her tile cause was ptomaine poisunlingor something else. The best jthing to do was to got medical aid as soon as possible. '"lf there is no 'antidotq. what about prevention ?" The answer to this question was that the best prevention was. to avoid as far as possible eating tinned meat that, had been opened for any length of time, and to observe ordinary rules of cleanliness and sanitation, As a rule the decomposition in tinned meat that caused trouble took place after the tin had ■ been opened), and was not the fault 'of the manufacturer. Hut he had known cases of ptomaine poisoning arising from meat that had been just opened. Cases had been known to ariso from eating l shell fish, such as mussels, and at times even- from oysters. Ham, consumed at a. wedding feast, had fatally afflicted several personal, and there had been some cases arising from milk, .cheese, and butter, particularly when the dairy was withi-n reach of emanations from a drain. It was not an uncommon thing in this country to see a safe right over «n open jdrain. "Is ptomaine poisoning on I the increase?" asked the reporter. |' l don't think so—rather the rejvcrse. There may appear to lie 'more because it is only in lata:years it has Cieeu recognised. Cases before that probably passed unnoticed," replied the health ollicer.