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Ptomaine is an old name for a poisonous stuff that bacteria make in rotting food. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, people blamed ‘ptomaine poisoning’ when someone got very sick after bad meat or leftovers. Though actually, doctors later found that the real danger is usually the bacteria themselves, and other toxins, not these ptomaines. You will mostly meet the word in old books, old news, or old-fashioned talk — not in a modern hospital. The p is silent: say it like ‘toe-main’. It is not the same as botulism, which is a different, still-used medical name.
屍鹼（舊稱腐敗食物裡的毒素；別和「肉毒桿菌」搞混）
組成From French ptomaïne, from Italian ptomaina, from Greek ptoma, ‘corpse’.
原始詞典資料2 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
ptomainenoun/ˈtəʊmeɪn/
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chemistrynatural-sciencesphysical-sciencesAny of various amines formed by putrefactive bacteria.
- On 6 February 2001 the Yaremche Environmental Health Inspectorate (санітарно-епідеміологічна станція) concluded that the cemetery should not have been constructed on the VL [Vorokhtya Lisokombinat] plot in view of its proximity to residential buildings and the risk of contamination of the surrounding environment by ptomaine.
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datedFood poisoning.
- Elinor said: "One used to be rather afraid of eating fish pastes. There have been cases of ptomaine poisoning from them, haven't there?"
- You remember Leonard Skinner. He got ptomaine poisoning last night after dinner.
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。