152 



soon became restless, the iiitestiual murmurliigs were loud and an evacua- 

 tion of faeces soon followed. When made to turn in the stall his move- 

 ments were slow and unsteady. One hour after giving the injection his 

 pulse was sixty and his respirations forty-three per minute. He refused 

 to eat and remained dull till noon the following day. After an interval of 

 a few days the horse was given 130 cc. per orum. In forty minutes he 

 stopped eating, his pulse and breathing were quickened, but outside of this 

 no other effects of the drug were noted. 



A brief summary of the results show that an injection of 25 to 30 cc. 

 of the drug caused restlessness and increased peristaltic movements of 

 the intestines. This was followed shortly by evacuation of the contents 

 of the rectum. At the same time the pulse and respiration were quick- 

 ened. The effects of the dose passed off in an hour. 



The injection of 45 cc. produced, in addition to the above symptoms, 

 a dullness and an unsteady gait when made to move. The effects of the 

 dose were much more lasting. The horse remained dull and refused to 

 eat for twenty-four hours. 



A 15 cc. subcutaneous injection and a 130 cc. per orum dose produced 

 but little effect. 



While the results of both the chemical and physiological tests of the 

 corn smut are at variance with those obtained by some other investiga- 

 tors,' they are in accordance with results of a number of chemists,^ and 

 to some extent in their physiological action to that obtained by Dr. 

 Mitchell,^ whose experiments were performed upon the frog. The con- 

 cordance of the results obtained from both the chemical and physiological 

 tests would indicate the presence in minute quantity of some narcotic in 

 corn smut. What this narcotic is, and why, when corn smut is consumed 

 in large quantities by farm animals, it does not produce more harmful 

 results, are questions which ai*e yet to be determined. 



=> Kedzie, Bull. Mich. Exp. Sta., No. l.'^T : 45, 1896. 



Mayo, Bull. Kans. Exp. Sta., No. 58 : 69, 1896. 

 * Dulong, .Journ. de Pharm. 14 : 55(5, 1828. 



Cressler, Amer. Journ. Pharm. for 1861 : 306. 



Parsons, Rep. Dept. Agrie. for 1880 : 136-138, 1881. 



Hahn, Amer. Journ. Pharm. 53 : 496, 1881. 



Rademaker and Fischer, Med. Herald for 1887 : 775. 

 ^ Mitchell, .Jas. — The Physiological Action of Ustilago maidis on the Nervous System, 

 Inaug. Thesis, Univ. Pa., 1883. Therap. Gaz., Detroit, 10 : 223-227, 1886. . 



