1920] VETERINAEY MEDICINE. 783 



Tlio floweriiic: plants, on oxtrac-tion with 90 i)er cent alcohol and subsequent 

 treatment with absolute alcohol and ether, yielded an amorphous poison which 

 was insoluble in water and ether but soluble in alcohol. The yield was about 

 O.LT) per cent of the air-dried plant. Small quantities of the water-soluble and 

 ether-soluble substances, as isolated from the inunature and seeding plants, were 

 also obtained. The author is of the opinion that the amorphous substance is 

 the mother substance of the ether-soluble crystalline toxic compound obtained 

 from the seeding plants. 



The water-soluble, amorphous, and ether-soluble poisons were subjected to 

 physical, chemical, and toxicity tests, the general results of which are reported 

 briefly. No definite conclusions have been drawn concerning their composition. 

 The water-soluble form, while giving an acid i-eaction in solution, is apparently 

 not a typical organic acid. No relationship has been found to exist between it 

 and alkaloids or glucosids. It is thought to contain potassium as well as car- 

 bon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. The amorphous and ether-soluble forms 

 contain no inorganic element. The former is less acid and the latter more 

 strongly acid than the water-soluble form. 



In the toxicity experiments with guinea pigs and rabbits the ether-soluble 

 compound had a marked coagulating effect upon the blood, while no such effect 

 was observed with the two other forms. All three showed strong toxic action 

 when injected intravenously, the action being less marked in each case if the ma- 

 terial was neutralized with sodium bicarbonate before administration. The tox- 

 icity of the poison obcained from the seeding plants appeared to be considerably 

 greater than that of the other forms. The plant is, however, considered to be 

 more poisonous during its initial development " because of the quantity of poison 

 and the avidity with which it is absorbed. Tlie presence of moisture undoubtedly 

 influences its toxic action. Under normal conditions of growth the aster at no 

 time loses its toxic activity. (Field observations and laboratory tests fully 

 substantiate this statement.) It is, therefore, a dangerous plant throughout its 

 existence." 



No specific treatment has as yet been recommended, although from the labora- 

 tory tests a mild alkali would appear to be indicated. 



The chemical examination of the silvery lupine, O. A. Bp:ath (Wyoming 

 Sta. Bui. 125 (1920), pp. 99-1 1/f, fiffs. 5).— This is a preliminary report of a study 

 of the silvery lupine. Lupinus argenteus, along the some general lines as that 

 of the woody aster noted above. Losses from lupine poisoning occur chiefly 

 among sheep, although cattle are occasionally poisoned. It is stated that more 

 sheep are poisoned by lupine in Wyoming than by any other one poisonous plant. 

 The experimental work reported includes toxicity experiments upon rabbits 

 with the alkaloidal extracts of various parts of the plant, determinations of 

 the relative amounts of alkaloid present at different periods of growth of the 

 plant, proximate analyses of a mixed sample of flowers and green fruit, the 

 isolation and purification of the alkaloids from a composite sample of the plant, 

 and a study of the properties of the free bases, including their pharmacological 

 effects. The results of the study, so far as they can be summarized, are as 

 follows : 



Two analyses of a representative sample of flowers and green fruit gave the 

 following results: Alcoholic extract (100°), 22.52 and 22.28 per cent; ligroin 

 (25-40°) extract (93°), 1.92 and 2.09 per cent; starch by acid hydrolysis, none; 

 reducing sugars, 2.53 and 2.62 per cent ; sucrose. O.SG and 0.60 per cent ; pen- 

 tosans, 10.06 and 10.28 per cent; alkaloids total, 0.517 and 0.459 per cent; and 

 resin, 4.4 and 4.6 per cent. 



