334 PLUMBAGINEZ. 
The distillate, from which the oil had been removed, was 
strongly acid; it was nentralized with baryta, The~ barium = 
salt thus obtained treated with dilute sulphuric acid, yielded 
after agitation with ether a yellow oily principle similar to that 
which had been separated from the distillate by ether. There 
appears to have been no plumbagin in this root; it had the 
usual appearance of the drug as met with in commerce, and 
when received was quite fresh and moist, and had to be dried 
before it could be powdered. Further operations upon large 
quantities of the fresh and dried root will be necessary before 
the nature of this substance can be determined, for at present 
the physical properties of the principle, the so-called plum- 
bagin, are not sufficiently well known to enable one to posi- 
tively assert whether it is odourless or not, while its chemical 
gonstitution has not been studied. 
_Poxicology.— Chevers (Med. Jurisp., p. 252,) refers to two 
: fatal cases of poisoning from the internal administration of the 
root ; one of these was homicidal. 
In Madras Plumbago was little used before 1882. In 1882 
and 1883, it formed 12 per cent. of the cases in which poison 
was detected in Class A (Human Cases, Viscera examined) ; in 
1888, two cases in 51 were detected; and in 1889, two in 101. 
Tn Class B ( Suspected Attempts to Poison) ;in 1883, one in eight; 
in 1524, one in eight; in 1885, one in seven ; and in 1887, one 
7 f the poisons detected was plumbago. The drug had 
sl administered by sorcerers to persous accused of 
an shortifacient, or as a love potion eye Wonien: 
Eee to pass urine. ‘The affected persons were 
e sore mouths, feeble irregular pulses and cold skins. 
Dr. Lyon finds plumbago root chiefly used for the A 
: of causing abortion. With this object itissometimes 
usually emplo 
males as a local irritant — s 
