SPERMATOPHYTA— CARYOPHYLLACEAE 441 



Dr. Chesnut says : 



The poisonous constituent, saponin, is a non-crystalline powder, very freely soluble 

 in water, and possessing a sharp, burning taste. It has no odor, but when inhaled in the 

 smallest quantity it produces violent sneezing. When briskly shaken with water it fcoths 

 like soap. The poison is found in nearly all parts of the plant, but mainly in the kernel 

 of the seed. Cases of poisoning have been noted among all sorts of poultry and household 

 animals, but are rarely due to any portion of the plant as found growing in the field. 

 The poisoning is generally produced by a poor grade of flour made from wheat containing 

 cockle seeds. Machinery is used to remove these seeds from the wheat, but the difficulty 

 of separating them is so great that the result is not entirely accomplished. The quantity 

 remaining determines the grade of flour in this particular regard. It sometimes amounts 

 to 30 or 40 per cent, but this quality is sent out only by ignorant or unscrupulous dealers 

 or is intended for consumption by animals only. Flour containing a smaller gimount has 

 often been made into bread and eaten, sometimes with fatal results, the baking not always 

 being sufficient to decompose the poison. The effect may be acute, or, if a small quantity 

 of the meal is eaten regularly, it may be chronic. In the latter case it is sometimes 

 known as a disease under the name of "githagism." The general symptoms of acute 

 poisoning are the following: Intense irritation of the whole digestive tract, vomiting, 

 headache, nausea, diarrhoea, hot skin, difficult locomotion, and depressed breathing. Coma 

 is sometimes present, and may be followed by death. Chronic poisoning has not been 

 closely studied in man, but experiments upon animals show chronic diarrhoea and gradual 

 depression, the animal losing vigor in breathing and in muscular movements until death 

 ensues. The action is antagonized by the use of digitalin, or of the simple extract of 

 digitalis (Digitalis purpurea) a dangerous poison, which should be given only by a physician. 



The more prominent S3-mptoms as recorded by Friedberger and Frohner 

 are, briefly, colic, vomiting, slavering, paralysis, stupor, hyperaemia of brain 

 and spinal cord. • 



Dr. Chesnut also adds : 



Corn cockle meal is easily detected in second and third class flour by the presence 

 of the black, roughened scales of the seed coat. These are sure to occur if tht flour has 

 not been well bolted. Its presence is otherwise detected by the peculiar odor produced 

 when the meal is moistened and by chemical tests with iodine. Wheat containing corn cockle 

 seeds should be rejected for planting. 



It has been asserted in Europe that corn cockle is injurious in flour and 

 bread stufifs. Dr. Chesnut says : 



A person eating 1200 grains of bread made from flour containing only one-half per 

 cent of corn cockle seed would consume six grains of cockle seed, an amount which the 

 author believes beyond a doubt to be poisonous in its effects. 



The poison in corn cockle is sapotoxin Cj^^H^gOj^, and is partially decom- 

 posed while baking, but nevertheless some of it remains and the use of flour 

 which contains corn cockle should be forbidden. It has long been suspected of 

 being poisonous. Mr. John Smith in his Domestic Botany, says : 



It being difficult to separate the seeds from the grain, the value of the latter is 

 deteriorated, and the flour is rendered unwholesome. 



5. Saponaria Linn. Soapwort 



Calyx ovoid to sub-cylindrical, S-toothed, obscurely nerved, terete or S- 

 angled, smooth; stamens 10; styles 2; pod 1-ceIled, or sometimes 2-4-valved, and 

 4-toothed to apex. Coarse annual or perennial with mucilaginous juice, hence 

 common name of soapwort because of the property of forming a lather with 

 water. 



Saponaria officinalis L. Bouncing Bet 



Perennial herbs with large flowers in cymose clusters ; calyx narrowly ovoid 

 or oblong, five toothed; petals clawed or unappendaged, stamens 10, styles 2, 

 pod 1-celled or incompletely 2 to 4-celled and 4-toothed at the apex. About 



