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It is not likely that either Washington's or Massillon's victims had ptomaine poisoning. Ptomaines (from ptoma, a corpse) are basic chemical substances derived from the decay of animal or vegetable proteins. They appear in food substances only in the later stages of putrefaction. True ptomaine poisoning is almost unknown. The use of the term is a survival of the period when physicians believed that bacteria produced their injurious effects by means of basic alkaloid-like products. Now it is known that the bacteria themselves cause the trouble.
What is commonly called "ptomaine poisoning" is poisoning from foods which contain putrefactive bacteria. Fish and vegetables are more likely to be infected than meat or fruit. Soup is less liable to contain the bacteria. Infection may result from contamination during preparation as well as from age and exposure. Symptoms appear in from two to 72 hours. There are severe gastric pains, headache, nausea. Vomiting will bring relief in mild cases, hence an emetic is the first treatment, followed by castor oil, epsom salts or an enema. In severe cases prolonged illness with typhoid-like symptoms may result.
Potatoes normally contain about .06% of a poison principle called solanin. In potatoes which have lain partly above ground during growth or have sprouted during storage the solanin content may increase to a point where the potatoes are unfit to eat. Symptoms of potato poisoning are similar to those of ordinary food poisoning: chills, fever, headache, vomiting, diarrhea, such as Washington's picnickers experienced last week.