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‘The physiological action of the saponins is very interesting, as all of 
these bodies are characterized by their great hemolytic power; many 
are very irritating and many are true protoplasm poisons. The following 
represent typical cases of the action of saponin on animals: 
Experiment A.—Guinea pig of 210 grams: 0.005 gram saponin in 1 cubic 
centimeter of water injected intraperitoneally. The animal was very uneasy soon 
after the injection. Trembling, labored breathing, and progressive weakness fol- 
low. Dead in two hours. An autopsy performed immediately after death shows 
the peritoneal cavity to be much congested, with large amounts of a bloody, 
serous exudate present. A microscopic examination of this fluid reveals great 
numbers of leucocytes, in clumps, the red blood corpuscles being dissolved and the 
serum deeply colored with hemoglobin. In the heart’s blood, the lysis was not 
so marked, but the serum was tinged with hemoglobin. The lungs were normal. 
The minimum fatal dose of entada saponin intraperitoneally is 0.0025 gram for 
a guinea pig of 200 grams weight, although animals often showed dangerous 
symptoms with one-fifth of this dose. Injected intravenously, saponin is much 
more poisonous, 0.0002 killing a rabbit of 800 grams weight in two minutes. 
Dr. Harry T. Marshall, of the Biological Laboratory of this Bureau, has made fur- 
ther physiological studies on this saponin and his results are reported elsewhere 
in this number of the JouRNAL. 
FISH POISONS USED BY THE NATIVES. 
Entada scandens is one of the plants used in the Philippines as a fish 
poison, and it owes its efficacy in this direction to its saponin content. A 
saponin solution of 1 to 20,000 was prepared, and three small fish placed 
in it. ‘They soon became stupefied, floating about without motion on the 
top of the water, and all died within two or three hours. Controls under 
similar conditions were not affected. 
Fish poisoning is much practiced by all the wild tribes in the Islands, 
and also to a considerable extent in the outlying districts by peoples who 
are classed as civilized. The fish poison is usually prepared with con- 
siderable ceremony by the head men of a village, the various ingredients 
being pounded up together and then thrown into the stream or pool. 
The plants are often mixed with earth and rocks, the intention being to 
sink the noxious plants so that all parts of the water may be poisoned. 
Very soon, small fish begin to float on their sides on the top of the water, 
while the larger ones move about slowly in a stupefied and helpless 
manner. The natives then rush into the water and kill and catch all 
they can, after which there is a great feast. Many of the ingredients 
put into the fish poison mixtures are harmless and without effect. Some 
of the important ones which we have thus far obtained are cited in the 
following : ; 
One of the favorite poisons is “tuba” or “tartyan-taryan tiba,’ which 
is the native name for the fruit of Croton tiglium Linn.2* (Huphor- 
biacew). This well-known tree is widely distributed in the Philippines 
as a cultivated or semicultivated plant. Other native names for it are 
* Sp. Pl. (1753), 1004; Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind., 5, 393. 
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