Chem. Also -ine. [a. F. spermine: see SPERM sb. and -IN1.] A toxin extracted from the pancreas and some other parts of the body.
1892. Lancet, 16 July, 175/1. Professor de Poehl … had succeeded in extracting from the pancreas, thyroid body, ovaries and testes a leucomaine called spermine.
1898. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., V. 647. A compound of phosphoric acid and a base ‘Spermin.’ Ibid. (1899), VIII. 50. Oppenheim once observed tetany after a spermin injection.
