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 froths 



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 amount 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, 



j 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 



I 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 symptoms 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 



j 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 



j 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 stuffs. 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 

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



The poison in corn cockle is sapotoxin C 17 H 26 O JO and is partially decom- 

 jposed 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 

 i 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, Smoothed, obscurely nerved, terete or 5- 



.iangled, smooth; stamens 10; styles 2; pod 1-celled, 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 



( jwater. 



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, 

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



