Category:Ptomaine

Pto"ma*ine, n. Etym: [from gr. (physiol. Chem.)

Defn: one of a class of animal bases or alkaloids formed in the Putrefaction of various kinds of albuminous matter, and closely Related to the vegetable alkaloids; a cadaveric poison. The Ptomaines, as a class, have their origin in dead matter, by which They are to be distinguished from the leucomaines.