4 Transactions. 



in small quantities at a time, mto a mixture of naphtha and chloroform 

 of such a specific gravity that the seeds floated while all the dehris sank, 

 and by skimming off and drying the seed a fine clean sample was 

 obtained. When administered to a rabbit this gave the result shown in 

 the table, exp. 296 — viz., the percentage of tutin was no greater than 

 the average. It follows, therefore, that at an early stage in the forma- 

 tion of the berry the fleshy petals contain as much tutin as other green 

 parts of the plant — in fact, the percentage works out to the same (0-06) 

 as was found m the green shoots of Goriana ruscifolia. 



It would be interesting to be able to follow the fate of the tutin in 

 the petals. Is it transformed in situ into a constituent of the innocuous 

 juice, or is it transported to other parts of the plant ? If the former takes 

 place, one is tempted to believe a ferment might be found capable of 

 affecting the transformation, and such a ferment would be of value in 

 destroying tutin while still in the paunch of stock poisoned by tutu. 

 So far I have not been able to get any evidence of the presence of such a 

 ferment. 



Effects of .\dministeation of the Oils. 



Practically all parts of the tatu-plant, but especially the seeds, contain 

 a considerable amount of a green-coloured oil — " oil of tutu " — which was 

 believed by the earlier workers (Skey, Christie) to be or to contain the 

 poisonous principle. That the latter supposition was the correct one was 

 proved by Easterfield and Aston, who showed that tutin, quite apart from 

 the oil, was sufficiently active and abundant to account for most, if not 

 all. of the symptoms of tutu poisoning. The question still remained, 

 however, whether the oil or oils had any action which if not toxic itself 

 might influence the toxicity of the tutin. To throw some light on this I 

 used the oil as obtained by extraction v/ith mineral naphtha, which had 

 proved itself a good solvent for oil, while it was unlikely to dissolve tutin, 

 as this substance had been shown by Easterfield and Aston to be insoluble 

 in benzene. Chloroform extracts were also investigated, because it was 

 noticed that, after naphtha extraction had been carried on till the extracts 

 were colourless, chloroform was still able to extract some green-coloured 

 oil, probably another fraction of the mixture of oils present. The follow- 

 ing experiments were done ; — 



{a.) 50grm. seed (sampL' 11) was extracted first with mineral naphtha till 

 the extracts were clourless, then with chloroform. The chloroform-soluble 

 part was mixed with a little alcohol and added to water, the result being 

 a fine precipitate or suspens-iou of the oil. This was administered to a 

 rabbit by stomach-tube. The animal became unconscious, and remained 

 so for about three hours. Next day it appeared to be quite well. The 

 symptoms were probably due to the dcse of alcohol, which unfortunately 

 was not measured. No distinct tutin eSects were obsserved. 



{h.) A quantity of the oil extracted with naphtha was freed from all but traces of 

 the solvent by heating it on a water bath ; some olive-oil was added, and a 

 small amount of egg-white and 1 per cent, sodium carbonate. The mixture 

 was then emulsified by shaking, and administered by stomach-tube. No 

 symptoms developed beyond r -me somnolescence. The amount of green 

 oil given would amount to about 10 grm. = 8 grni. per kilogram for the 

 rabbit used. 



(c.) 50 grm. seed (sample II) was extracted with alcohol, and the residue 

 extracted with chloroform. A considerable amount of green oil resulted. 

 This was boiled with about a litre of water, filtered, and evaporated down 

 on a water bath. More " oil " continued to separate as evaporation pro- 

 ceeded, and was removed by filtration. The final result was 10 c.c. of 

 watery extract of the "oils." Of this 5 c.c. was administered by hypo- 

 dermic injection to a medium-sized rabbit. No symptoms followed. 



