Nov. IS, 191S Gossypol, the Toxic Substance in Cottonseed Meal 265 



chlorid. The samples dried at 125° to 130°, melted at 179° to 180°, and 

 air-dried samples melted with quick heating at 188°. 



Our experiments indicate that the substance which Marchlewski named 

 ^'gossypol" contained acetic acid in combination with the substance to which 

 we think the name "gossypol" should be assigned. The acetic-acid content 

 of our different products varied from 8.5 to 9.5 per cent, depending upon 

 the conditions under which crystallization took place. The substance con- 

 taining acetic acid and the stib stance freed of acetic acid differ in elementary 

 com,position and in melting point, as one would expect. Marchlewski's 

 empirical formulas for gossypol appear to us to be erroneous, as they were 

 based upon the ultimate analysis of the acetate instead of the substance 

 freed from acetic acid. 



Marchlewski supposed that gossypol might prove of value as a dyestuff, 

 and before the publication of his article took out patents ^ to protect his 

 discoveries. He made no suggestion as to its physiological activity, nor 

 have we been able to find that anyone else has done so. 



EXPERIMENTAL WORK WITH GOSSYPOL 

 METHOD OF ROUTINE FEEDING 



Rabbits and guinea pigs were used in our experiments. Rabbits do 

 not eat cottonseed meal nor cottonseed kernels readily. Therefore, to 

 make the various solid feeds palatable, we moistened them with the best 

 grade of molasses, rabbits eating the various feeds with great relish until 

 made sick. They were fed liberally with green feed once a day. 



In case of forced feeding a catheter was inserted to the stomach and the 

 dose allowed to drain in. The intraperitoneal injections were made by 

 the Station veterinarian. Dr. G. A. Roberts, by whom also the post- 

 mortem examinations and notes were made. 



The rabbits were fed in galvanized-iron cages, about 20 inches long by 

 16 inches wide by 10 inches deep. Each contained a trough with sep- 

 arate compartments for water and feed. 



TOXICITY OF COTTONSEED KERNELS (FEED 290) 



Cottonseed kernels were extracted with petroleum ether, which does 

 not remove gossypol in appreciable quantities. A rabbit was started on 

 15 gm. daily of this feed, but it would not eat all of it. Diarrhea 

 resulted on the second day, and its appetite for green feed was affected 

 on the third and fourth days. It gradually ate less and less, so that the 

 feed was discontinued on the eleventh day and the ether-extracted 

 kernels (feed 316) substituted on the day following. During the last five 

 days it ate only 11.5 gm. It ate 56.5 gm. of feed 290, losing 130 gm. in 

 weight, but recovered on feed 316. 



' English patent No. 24418 of 1895 and German patents Nos. 98074 and 98587 of 1898. 



