PTOMAINE POISONING.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXVIII, Issue 8101, 22 March 1906, Page 6

PTOMAINE POISONING.

ITS CAUSES AND EFFECTS. DANGERS OF DECOMPOSED FOOD. The wholesale poisoning caused at the Ohinemuri Jockey Club's race meeting, at Paeroa,* through the eating of potted tongue, has caused a good deal uf discussion in the city. It is pertinent, therefore, to enquire into the cases aud effects of ptomaine poisoning, and the danger of contracting it through eating tinned meats, fish or fruit. A Post reporter oalled on Dr. Ewart, at the Hospital, and was very courteously supplied with certain information which will be read with interest. Ptomaines are decomposition products, and always contain nitrogen. To the lay mind the word conveys the idea of deadly poison; but all ptomaines nre not necessarily poisonous; in fact, only a very small minority are poisonous. Whether, in any case of decomposition, any ptomaines will be formed, and, if any, what kind, depend upon the specie? of organisms present, the nature of the material, temperature, access of air, and other conditions. It appears to be not always essential that tissues containing ptomaines shall be dead, for in a number of cases of poisoning follow ing the ingestion of freshly gathered mussels and oysters the cause has definitely been demonstrated to have been these bases.

As a rule ptomaine poisoning*is dae to contaminated milk or cheese, or to meats or fish that have begun to decompose. The stage of the process of decomposition is of no great importance, for as they are only transition products, ptomaines may be present or may have disappeared at any stage, and meat that is not perceptibly tainted may be very toxic, while that whion is 1 deoidedly bad may be perfeotly innocuous. . In point of fact most ptomaine poisoning is due to foods not markedly decomposed, since those that aro repugnant to the senjes are rejeoted at once. Pto-maine-poisoning as a rule manifests itself within a short time after eating. The symptoms include abdominal pain, vomiting, feeble and irregular pulse, dryness and oonstriotion of the throat and cyanosis. Dr. Ewart stated that, although oases were reported occasionally ptomaine poisoning was really not prevalent, and no alarm need be felt at what happened up North, so far as the eating of tinned foods is concerned. Ptomaine-poisoning was not necessarily confined to turned foods; it might originate in meat recently killed or in milk. The most common causes were the tinning of decomposed or slightly tainted food, or the use of insufficiently sterilised or dirty tins. If tainted meat was tinned the process of decomposition W6nt on after it was sealed; in the same way meat that is placed ii dirty tins bocomes tainted, and poisoning results from eating it. Even where cows are milked in dirty yards there is danger of the milk becoming contaminated. Cases are on record where fatal cases of ptomaine poisoning have occurred through drinking milk from cows milked in insanitary yards. The .only safeguards against ptomaine poisoning are carefulness and scrupulous cleanliness on the part of those who handle food. Fresh meat may become contaminated through being placed in an unclean safe and the same applies to butter, cheese and milk. Dr. Ewart emphasised the advreableness of always removing tinned meats from the tin when opened, and consuming them the same day. Meat, fish or fruit should never be left in the tin after being opened,—Evening Post, *mammtm •*SK"SSKE&>