SPERMATOPHYTA BERBERIDACEAE 471 



[ been reported. It produces fatal prostration. It seems to exert a special in- 

 fluence upon the liver. Dr. Rusby says : 



Its taste, especially when fresh, is very repugnant, and yet if eaten in quantities it 

 would unquestionably prove fatal, as shown by the effects of over-dosage in medicine. In 

 the Philadelphia Medical and Surgical Reporter, XIX, 308, a fatal case is recorded in 

 which the evidence is perfectly clear that poisoning resulted from continued large doses ad- 

 ministered by an ignorant and careless physician. The poisonous symptoms were all re- 

 ferable to the bowels, those of enteritis. It is also very interesting to note the peculiar 

 eilects of poisoning of the external skin by the powder and by the resin of this drug. It 

 produces an ulcer of a very peculiar character, closely resembling one of venereal origin. 

 Serious errors of diagnosis, leading to the gravest injustice to the reputation of the 

 patient, have been known to occur in reference to these cases. A very serious ulcer upon 

 the eye-ball is among these recorded cases. The very greatly elongated rhizome of Podo- 

 phyllum, with its very long smooth internodes, broadened nodes with their very large, low, 

 cup-shaped ears, and sparse roots underneath, is doubtless well known to all pharmacists. 

 The plant is not only very common, but extremely abundant east of the Mississippi, and is 

 liable to be encountered almost anywhere." 



In regard to its action on man, Dr. Millspaugh says : 



Here the same action takes place, but extends to the rectum with sufficient intensity 

 to cause prolapsus and hemorrhoids. The first effect of the drug is an excitation of 

 salivary and biliary secretions, followed by torpor and icterus. The symptoms of dis- 

 turbance caused by the drug in doses varying from % to % grains of "podophyllin," and 

 in persons working in the dust of the dried root, are substantially as follows: Inflamma- 

 tion of the eyes, soreness and pustulation of the nose; salivation and white-coated tongue; 

 extreme nausea, followed by vomiting severe pains in the transverse colon and abdomen, 

 followed by an urgent call to stool; thin, offensive, copious stools; weak pulse, prostra- 

 tion, drowsiness, and cold extremities. 



Among other experiments with this drug upon animals, those of Dr. Anstie seem to be 

 the most characteristic. He found, resulting from his many applications of an alcoholic 

 solution to the peritoneal cavity direct, that no local inflammation arose, although an in- 

 tense hyperaemia occurred in the duodenum especially, and the whole of the small intestine, 

 even going so far as to cause a breaking down of the tissues and resulting ulceration, 

 causing discharges of glairy mucus streaked with blood; this hyperaemia ceased usually 

 at the ileocaecal valve. Post mortem: The mucous-membranes were found inflamed and 

 covered with bloody mucus. Other observers noted that retching, salivation, and emesis, 

 followed by purging, colic, and intense tenesmus, with low pulse, and rapid exhaustion 

 followed the administration of the drug. 



Dr. Schaffner says : 



Roots, stems, and leaves, drastic and poisonous, but the ripe fruit less so. Reaves, 

 when eaten by cows, produce injurious milk. The ripe fruit may be eaten in small quan- 

 tities. 



The root of Mandrake affects the skin. Mr. Lloyd, in White's work, writes : 

 Our employes experience great trouble in working this, owing to the irritating action 

 of the skin. We have in numerous instances had our men cease work for several days owing 

 to its action, which causes very painful inflammation of the skin, especially of the eyes. 



Dr. Winslow says : 



The action is exerted mainly on the duodenum, which is intensely inflamed and even 

 ulcerated in poisoning. Podophyllin directly increases the secretion of bile in small doses, 

 while purgative quantities hasten its excretion by stimulation of the muscular coat of the 

 gall bladder (except in the horse) and small intestines. It is probable that the intestinal 

 secretions are somewhat augmented. The faecal movements, after medicinal doses of 

 podophyllin, are liquid, often stained with bile, and may be accompanied by some nausea 

 and griping. 



Berberis L. Barberry. 



Shrubs with yellow wood, simple or compound leaves, often spiny; flowers, 

 yellow in racemes, or rarely axillary; sepals 6-9, like petals; petals 6, imbricated 

 in 2 series; stamens 6; fruit a berry with 1-3 seeds. About 75 species of wide 

 distribution. 



