66 Journal of Agricultural Research voi.xx.Nai 



autopsy of animals treated with this liquid there was noticed some 

 necrosis of the tissues at the points of injection, but no other unfavorable 

 results from its administration were observed. 



Certain other preparations of echinacea which are sometimes used 

 were not tested. A tincture of the green root is on the market, as is 

 also a variety of powdered and solid extracts of echinacea. These 

 preparations are all made with a menstruum of strong alcohol, and it is 

 therefore not to be supposed that they contain any components not 

 present in the fluid extracts which we used. The manufacturers of 

 certain green-root tinctures assert that this product is superior to prepa- 

 rations of the dried root; there is, however, not the slightest published 

 evidence to substantiate this assertion. The early settlers are said 

 to have used the green root bruised and in the form of infusion. In 

 the present work no such form of the remedy was used. It is quite 

 possible that an infusion would contain some substances which are absent 

 in the strongly alcoholic preparations and might, on this account, affect 

 the organism differently. The claims of the therapeutic efficiency of 

 echinacea have, however, been very largely made through the use of 

 alcoholic preparations, and we therefore felt justified in employing 

 these in determining its value as a remedy. 



PATHOLOGICAL CONDITIONS TREATED 



The acute experimental pathological conditions produced in the 

 guinea pigs were tetanus, botulism (in both of which the diseases were 

 produced by bacterial toxins), anthrax, septicemia (in both of which 

 the bacteria were injected into the animals), and crotalus poisoning (in 

 which the venin of rattlesnakes was injected). The chronic conditions 

 were those of tuberculosis, which was produced by inoculation with the 

 bacillus, and a trypanosomiasis (dourine), produced by inoculation with 

 the trypanosomes. The sources of these materials and the methods of 

 injection are described in the part of this paper which reports the experi- 

 mental work. 



METHODS 



The methods employed for testing the remedial powers of echinacea 

 against these several conditions were as follows : 



i. Animals were injected with the pathogenic material and were 

 immediately afterwards treated with echinacea, in suitable doses, one 

 dose per diem, until the animal succumbed or became unable to swallow 

 (if the administration was per os). 



2. Animals were dosed with echinacea for several days before they 

 were injected with pathogenic material, a protective treatment designed 

 to favor the drug as much as possible, and were given remedial doses 

 as long after the injection as possible. The treatment with the "Sub- 

 culoyd" followed the same course. Treatment was necessarily sus- 

 pended on Sundays and holidays, but in all except the chronic cases 

 the time was so chosen as to minimize breaks due to such cause. 



