Chemical a7id Physical Papers. 197 



It will be noticed that the common plants containing barium are 

 Samhucus (the elder), ragweed, Aplopappus ciliatus, Oxytropis 

 laniberti (Pursh), and agrimony. 



In regard to the occurrence of barium and its effect, attention is 

 called to the article by Albert C. Crawford on "Barium and Cause 

 of the Loco- weed Disease," Bureau of Plant Industry, Bulletin No. 

 129, and more recent articles on the same subject. Here are many 

 quotations as to the effect of barium on the system, and also feed- 

 ing experiments of barium salts on animals in the laboratory. 

 Among the other symptoms mentioned, paralysis is noted. In the 

 Bulletin of the Agricultural Experiment Station, University of 

 Nebraska, part I, 1905, is a report on poisoning of cattle by certain 

 weeds, some of which produce some of the symptoms of paralysis. 



It is a well-known fact that cattle, during August and Septem- 

 ber, when there is often lack of rain and the forage is scarce, will 

 eat such plants as ragweed and the green sprouts of Samhucus. 

 There was no opportunity to feed cows on such fodder exclusively, 

 to determine whether the milk secreted would contain barium and 

 manganese. Such experiments would be of interest. 



From the pharmaceutical laboratory the results in connection 

 with this report are as follows : 



So far as the relation of barium constituent in connection with 

 the disease called "locoism" is concerned, the experiments in the 

 pharmaceutical laboratory, under the immediate supervision of 

 Mr. James T. B. Bowles, indicate that while barium may be a very 

 large factor in producing the disease, there is an indication that 

 there is another principle which the Astragalus contains that acts 

 as a poison to guinea pigs. For example, 400 grammes of the 

 finely divided Astragalus was macerated with Prollius fluid and 

 perfectly exhausted by the fluid. This was evaporated to dryness 

 and the residue purified with 90-per-cent alcohol. The alcoholic 

 residue was disolved in water, made slightly alkaline, and shaken 

 out with chloroform, and afterward with ether. The ethereal solu- 

 tions were evaporated to dryness, purified with 95-per-cent alco- 

 hol, and again evaporated to dryness. This residue was dissolved 

 in diluted hydrochloric acid. Two cc. of this solution was in- 

 jected intraperitoneally into a 375-gram guinea pig. The pig 

 first had the nervous twitching of its head, followed with rapid 

 respiration ; dullness came on, and then spasms at intervals, which 

 threw the pig into convulsions. The pig finally died in convul- 

 sions forty minutes after having been injected with the solution. 

 Post-mortem showed that the stomach was quite inflated; the in- 



