76 STOCK-POISONING PLANTS OF MONTANA. 



EXPERIMENTS. 



The roots and leaves of nonflowering plants averaging about 3 inches 

 in height, gathered May 26 at an altitude of about 8,000 feet on 

 Bridger Peak, were kept moist and turgid in a tin botanical collecting 

 box until May 28. Forty-two grams of the leaves was then ground 

 in a sausage machine and soaked in 100 c. c. of distilled water at ordi- 

 nary temperatures over night, heated a half hour at blood heat the 

 next day, and then filtered by pressing through a linen bag until all 

 the water was separated. Twenty-seven grams of the roots was treated 

 with 50 c. c. in precisely the same manner at the same time. The 

 resulting extracts were kept on ice over Decoration Da}', while each 

 of the residues was set to soak with 100 c. c. of 50 per cent alcohol. 

 None of the extracts became moldy before they were used, their 

 superior keeping quality over other similar extracts being in fact an 

 argument in favor of their toxic character. Fig. 5 represents the 

 stage of growth of the plants used in the first five experiments. 



Experiment 1. — On June 1 10 c. c. of the water extract, equivalent 

 to 4.2 grams of the fresh green leaves, was fed to a 17-ounce rabbit. 

 The prominent effects noted after a couple of hours were a more rapid 

 respiration and a dizzy motion of the head backward and forward. 



Experiment 2. — On June 6 14 c. c. of the same solution, represent- 

 ing 5.8 grams of the leaf, was fed to the same rabbit. The same symp- 

 toms were displayed on the same day and the day following, but to a 

 greater degree. On June 7 respiration was so labored that the whole 

 body pulsated rhythmically to each movement. The heart action was 

 also weak and very fluttering, and the animal refused to eat even when* 

 coaxed. The recovery was, however, complete. 



Experiment 3. — The alcoholic extract obtained from the above 42 

 grams of leaves after extracting with water was evaporated to dryness 

 over a water bath and the residue dissolved in 15 c. c. of about 30 per 

 cent alcohol. Of this extract li c. c, representing 4.2 grams of the 

 fresh leaf, was injected hypodermically into a 40-ounce rabbit. The 

 animal's respiration was greatly accelerated in three-quarters of an 

 hour, but it had completely recovered by the next dmy. 



Experiment .<^.— On May 31 7 c. c. of the water extract of the root, 

 representing 3f grams of the fresh material, was fed to a 63-ounee 

 rabbit at 11.34 a. m. The animal was energetic and perfectly normal 

 up to 12.40, when it was noticed that it appeared uneasy and that its 

 breathing was irregular and rapid. At 3 o'clock, no additional symp- 

 toms having been noted, an amount of extract equivalent to 7i grams 

 of the fresh root was fed, and at 8 p. m. 10 grams more. The symp- 

 toms produced by the last two were not noted, but the effect was not 

 fatal. 



Experiment 5. — The alcoholic extract from the 27 grams of roots 

 used in the last experiment was evaporated to dryness, the residue dis- 



