VETERINARY MEDICINE. 881 



water poisoned by Cicuta roots, the part of the plant whicti is poisonous, season 

 wlien most poisonous, and remedies for Cicuta poisoning. 



It is shown that the poisonous properties of Cicuta have been recognized since 

 the middle of the seventeenth century and that a large number of cases of 

 poisoning of man and animals have been reported. The toxic principle is 

 probably common to all species and there is reason to think that all si)ecies are 

 equally poisonous. There is a definite train of symptoms, marked by nausea, 

 pain, and violent convulsions, which makes it easy to diagnose cases of Cicuta 

 poisoning. The prominent lesions, as found in autopsies, are congestion of the 

 lungs, kidneys, and central nervous system, with inflammation of the alimentary 

 canal. So far as known all the higher animals are poisoned by Cicuta. The 

 quantity necessary to poison is very variable, depending probably on the stage 

 of growth, although the plant is very poisonous at all times. The toxic prin- 

 ciple is largely confined to the rootstock. The tops under ordinary circum- 

 stances are not poisonous and neither the tops nor seeds when found in hay are 

 a source of danger. An emetic is said to be the best remedy, there being very 

 little that can be done for poisoned live stock. 



A bibliography of the literature cited, consisting of 51 titles, is appended. 



The influence of the subcutaneous mallein test upon the diag^nostic blood 

 examination in glanders, A. Marcis (Berlin. Tierdrztl. Wchmchr., 29 {1013), 

 Ko. 35, pp. 621-624, figs. 2). — After the subcutaneous administration of mallein 

 there are produced in the blood of nonglandered animals specific precipitins, 

 agglutinins, and complement-fixing amboceptors. These are the same as occur 

 in glandered horses. The precipitins are present the third day after the injec- 

 tion. The agglutinins come after 5 to 7 days, and the complement-fixing ambo- 

 ceptors 6 to 10 days post injection. The various antibodies disappear in the 

 same order. Most of the antibodies present in animals treated with mallein 

 begin to disappear the second or third week after the mallein injection, and 

 after 3 months they are totally absent; consequently 3 months must elapse 

 after the mallein injection before correct results can be obtained with the blood 

 tests. 



The effect of cold upon the lai-vse of Trichinella spiralis, B. H. Ransom 

 iSc-ience, n. ser., 39 (1914), No. 996, pp. 181-183).— The author reports the 

 results of a single series of experiments which show that cold has a lethal 

 action upon Trichinella larvse. In the experimental work most of the para- 

 sites survived when exposed for 6 days to a temperature ranging between 11 and 

 15° F., but when exposed to a temperature of about 0° F. the larvie quickly 

 succumbed, only one of more than 1,000 larvjie examined having survived the 

 6 days' exposure to this temperature. The single trichina which survived was 

 one of 275 isolated from a piece of trichiuous meat which had been kept at a 

 temperature of about 0° F. from September 27 to 30, then allowed to thaw, and 

 again kept at the same low temperature from October 1 to 4, or a total of 6 days' 

 exposure. " None was found alive among 498 larvfe from a piece of trichinons 

 meat kept at about 0° F. September 27 to 30, allowed to thaw, then exposeti 

 again to the same low temperature October 1 to 3, and thus exposed 5 days in 

 all, nor was any found alive among 233 larvie from a piece of trichinous meat 

 kept continuously at about 0° F. for 5 days. Out of 301 larviB from trichinous 

 meat kept at about 0° F. for 3 days only 5 showed signs of life. Two hundred 

 and twenty-five out of 3GG larvie exposed for 2 days to a teui])erature of about 

 0° F. were dead, and many of the remaining 141 showed only faint signs of life. 

 Ilesults similar to the above were obtained from tests of trichinosed meat on 

 guinea pigs." 



The results of the.se experiments suggest the possibility of substituting refrig- 

 eration for microscopic inspection as a prophylactic measure. 



