430 Journal of Agricultural Research voi. xii. No. 7 



The chemistry of the oil of chenopodium has been studied by Nelson 

 (jpii, 19 1 3), who was unable to ascertain its exact chemical nature, 

 but concludes that it is an unstable dioxid. Its physiological action 

 and toxicity have been the object of numerous experiments by Salant 

 et al. (1915) and Nelson (1911, 1913). They note that it is a respira- 

 tory depressant and that it decreases vagus instability and diminishes 

 frequency of heart action. 



In regard to its toxicity the minimum lethal dose is twice as great 

 when given by the mouth as when given hypodermatically. Repeated 

 doses have a cumulative effect, and the toxicity is enhanced when the 

 experiment animals are starved. It is less toxic when combined with 

 nonessential oils, such as olive, cottonseed, or coconut oil. In cats 0.6 

 mil per kilo by mouth was invariably fatal, but in dogs 0.5 mil caused 

 only vomiting. Adrenalin and digitalis were found to be antagonistic 

 to oil of chenopodium. 



Heiser {19 15) notes that over 100,000 cases of hookworm infestation 

 involving both Ancylostoma duodetmle and Necator americanus have been 

 treated in the Orient with chenopodium. 



For worms in dogs. — In view of the present great interest in cheno- 

 podium, the writers have made a considerable number of tests of this 

 substance with a view to determining its efficacy against worms in dogs 

 and other domestic animals, and in nearly all cases they have found it 

 extremely efficacious, especially for ascarids. The following experiment 

 was conducted to determine the efficacy of oil of chenopodium when 

 administered in one dose at the rate of 0.3 mil per kilo. 



Eight dogs, weighing from 2 to 10.3 kilos, were given a preliminary 

 purge of castor oil, which resulted in the removal of 9 ascarids. After 

 starving for 24 hours, they were given chenopodium in the dosage indi- 

 cated, mixed with 2.5 to 15.5 mils of castor oil, according to weight. 

 The treatment was found extremely efficacious for ascarids, removing 

 160 worms and leaving only 2. From all but one of the dogs it removed 

 all ascarids, and removed 10 out of 12 from that one. Its effect on hook- 

 worms and whipworms was less striking, about one-fourth of the total 

 number present being removed. It had very little efficacy against 

 Dipylidium caninum. It was evident that the dose given was uimeces- 

 sarily large, since the feces smelled strongly of chenopodium, and six of 

 the eight dogs vomited from two to four hours after treatment. An 

 objectionable feature of the chenopodium treatment, as given, was the 

 excessive ptyalism that it caused and the fact that the dogs objected to 

 the taste of chenopodium in the castor oil and resisted its administration. 



In the second experiment with chenopodium an attempt was made to 

 overcome the ptyalism by giving the chenopodium in a capsule. Eight 

 dogs, weighing from 5.5 to 9 kilos, were given chenopodium in capsules 

 at the rate of 0.2 mil per kilo on each of three successive days, the drug 

 being followed with five times its volume of olive oil the first two doses, 



