Dear of troy: A fabulous find. Worth a lot of time to read and re-read. I hadn't seen "ptomaine"
for a long time. Before bacteria were discovered, it was thought some kinds of food poisoning
were due to breakdown of proteins, and called "ptomaine poisoning." My father had a
Mrs. Malaprop complain to him that she had "pantomime poisoning."
I expect to spend a lot of time going over that goldmine again. Thanks, of troy.