308 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXVI. 



leaves have been soaked." (Plin. Nat. Hist., XXIII, 11, 90 (Edit. Teub.) ). 

 Dioscorides, a contemporary of Pliny gives even a description of the plant 

 and adds : " A well-known bush which has longer and thicker leaves than 

 the ahnond tree. It grows in gardens, on coast lands, and beside rivers ; 

 its blossoms and leaves have a bad eflect on dogs, asses, mules, and most 

 quadrupeds ; but taken with wine, they are wholesome for men against the 

 bite of animals, especially if mixed with rue ; but when the smaller 

 animals, like goats and sheep, drink of this, they die." Palladius says that 

 mice can be destroyed by stopping up their holes and passages with Oleander 

 leaves. Considering that the Uomans received the name of the bush from 

 Greece, it is difficult to understand that not one Greek w riter mentions the 

 plant. 



To the Hindus the poisonous qualities of Oleander have been known for a 

 long time. " It is proverbial among females of the hills," says Dymock, •' to 

 bid each other go and eat the root of the Kaner. Ainslie also refers to its 

 tise by Hindu women, when tormented by jealousy, and Broughton says that 

 it is well-known and extensively used in the Eombay Presidency as a 

 poison, the juice from the red variety being considered the strongest and 

 most fatal." Ealfour mentions that the camels eat leaves and usually die 

 in consequence of it. 



Chemical analysis has shown that the leaves of the Oleander contain two 

 substances which are chemically dift'erent and free of nitrogen, riz., Olean- 

 drin and neriin (*). Both are non-crystallisable gJucosides, almost 

 insoluble in water. Oleandrin forms amorphous masses which are soluble in 

 alcohol, ether, and chlorofo'm, but only slightly so in water. Neriin may 

 prove to be identical with digitalein, but in the meantime it goes under its 

 specific name. Schmiedeberg, who examined leaves of the African plant, 

 was able to separate a third product, which he called neriantin. Regarding 

 its chemical and physiological properties it is similar to digitalin. 



Both, oleandrin as well as neriin, are heart poisons and their effects 

 fairly agree with those produced by digitalin (the poison obtained from the 

 foxglove, Dit/italis purpurea). Ihe pulse frequently diminishes in the first 

 stage, while the pressure of the blood rises ; then the blood pressure as well 

 as the pulse frequency become abnormally low, and finally the pressure 

 remains low, whilst the pulse beats above the normal frequency When the 

 pulse becomes very low, it is natural that a feeling of constriction and 

 uneasiness in the chest comes on (called choking in Capt. Hotson's letter). 

 But the aspect of oleander-poisoning is not always so uniform and the 

 symptoms may be altogether peculiar in certain cases. Interesting 

 instances have been described in the Transactions of Med. and Phys. Soc. 

 of Bombay. 1857, 1858 and 1859. 



The antidotes, too, are the same as those applied against digitalin poi- 

 soning. Wynter Blyth recommends the following : 



"Empty the stomach by the tube or pump, or administer a subcutaneous 

 dose (4 drops' of apomorphine, or give a tablespoonful of mustard in water, 

 or sulphate of zinc. 



" Follow up with strong tea, or half a drachm of tannin, or gaUic acid in 

 aqueous solution. 



"A very small dose of aconitine nitrate in solution (say 1/200 of 

 a grain may be injected subcutaneously and the eflect watched ; if 

 in a little time it seems to be good, repeat the dose. On no account 

 let the patient rise from the recumbent posture, or he may faint to death. 



" Stimulants in small doses may be given frequently by the mouth, or, if 

 there is vomiting, by the bowel." 



0) A. Wynter Blyth, Poisons- London, 1895. 



