1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Ptomaine Poisoning

PTOMAINE POISONING (Gr. πτῶμα, corpse), a phrase now popularized in the sense of a certain class of food-poisoning. The word "ptomaine" was invented by the Italian chemist Selmi for the basic substances produced in putrefaction. They belong to several classes of chemical compounds. (See Medical Jurisprudence.)