THE ALUMNI JOURNAL. 



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chanical injury, yet the suddenness and 

 speedy nature of the result would indi- 

 cate that digestion and fermentation had 

 reached the seeds contained in the stones 

 and hydrocyanic acid had suddenly been 

 produced in sufficient quantity to prove 

 fatal, the symptons being complicated by 

 those of mechanical irritation. 



Of poisoning by the fruit ot Podophyl- 

 lum peltatum, Mandrake or May-apple, 

 I find two cases. One of these, on ac- 

 count of the indefiniteness of the evidence, 

 and in view of the well-known edible na- 

 ture of this fruit, might be considered as 

 uncertain; but the evidence in the other 

 case leaves nothing to be desired. 



Dr. Walter B. Reynolds of Washing- 

 ton, D. C, Coroner, reports the case of a 

 woman who, during the middle ot June, 

 " purchased two Ma> ? -apples, weighing 

 1 6 grams," to be used as a physic. The 

 result was severe emetico-catharsis, with 

 collapse, but subsequent recovery. The 

 case was complicated by her having also 

 taken a dose of three quack pills, prob- 

 ably containing mandrake rhizome or 

 resin. It is possible that this started or 

 aided the action of the fruit, if it was 

 ever actually eaten as reported. 



Dr. D. C. Owen, of Houston, 111., re- 

 ported in the Chicago Medical Examiner 

 for 1863, p. 389, the case of two little 

 girls who ate freely of this fruit, without 

 any other cause to induce the poisonous 

 results which followed. The symptoms 

 were wholly those of persistent and un- 

 controllable emesis, there being no cathar- 

 sis. The pulp and the seeds of the fruit 

 were freely vomited. One was so far 

 gone when seen that recovery was im- 

 possible and she died. The other re- 

 covered under treatment jby opium and 

 external heat. The one who recovered 

 stated that the rinds of the fruit were 

 ruptured by the teeth and the contents 

 sucked out. Commenting upon this case, 

 I would remark that it will be very diffi- 



cult for those who are familiar with the 

 extensive eating of this fruit in the re- 

 gions where it grows, to credit the oc- 

 currence of fatal poisoning cases. But 

 it is to be remembered that the sus- 

 ceptibility of different persons to the ef- 

 fects of the class of poisons to which 

 mandrake belongs, acting wholly through 

 their local irritation, is variable in the 

 extreme. It has already been shown 

 that some persons cannot bear the con- 

 tact of the powdered rhizome to the ex- 

 ternal skin without the production of 

 ulcers. Is it not entirely credible that 

 the sensitive lining of the stomach of 

 such persons might be seriously affected 

 even by the small amount of active prin- 

 ciple that we suppose to exist in the 

 fruit ? 



The properties of a tew more seeds re- 

 main to be considered, first those of the 

 castor-oil plant, which is common in 

 gardens, and occasional in waste places. 

 The pretty, shining seeds, and their 

 rather pleasant taste render them 

 objects of attention by children. Al- 

 though castor oil is expressed from these 

 seeds, and although that oil may be 

 taken in large quantities without danger, 

 this is not true of the seeds themselves. 

 There remains in the pulp, after the ex- 

 pression of the oil, a small quantity of an 

 exceedingly poisonous substance, ricinin, 

 so that a few seeds eaten entire might 

 cause serious symptoms in a young 

 child. 



The same may be said of a number of 

 other seeds of the Euphorbiacese. Euphor- 

 bia L,athyrus L,. is occasionally found 

 wild in this section, and two fatal cases 

 of poisoning by its seeds are recorded. 

 The seeds of other species have been 

 known to produce the same result. 



Suspicion must be attached to the seed 

 of the common Horse-chestnut, notwith- 

 standing that no serious cases of poison- 

 ing have been attributed to it, because of 



