OH. m] Papilionaceae 25 
PAPILIONACE^E. 
Laburnum (Cytisus Laburnum L.). The well-known and much 
admired Laburnum must be regarded as one of the most poisonous 
species of British plants. By numerous experimental researches 
Cornevin proved that all parts of the plant are poisonous root, wood, 
bark, leaves, flowers, and seeds, especially the seeds. In his experiments 
the horse, ass, sheep, goat, dog, cat, fowl, duck and pigeon, were utilized, 
seeds being given. He found that 80 centigrammes per kilogramme 
live weight would be necessary to kill a horse (say 1 Ib. for an animal of 
1200 Ib. live weight), 60 centigrammes per kilogramme live weight to 
kill an ass (say 6 oz. for an ass weighing 600 Ib.) ; and 6 grammes in the 
case of a fowl (say 0-4 oz. for a fowl weighing 4| Ib.). The sheep and 
goat he was not able to kill, as they refused the food after a certain 
point ; the dog and cat he was not able to kill because they so readily 
vomited ; and the duck and pigeon vomited with extreme facility. 
Many cases of the poisoning of children have occurred through the 
ingestion of the flowers and seeds. In 1908 a case was recorded by 
the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, in which two horses were 
alleged to have been poisoned in North Wales by laburnum seeds, a 
very small quantity of which was found in their stomachs after 
death. 
Miiller states that in Dalmatia goats which had eaten Cytisus Weldeni, 
though themselves uninjured, produced milk which was poisonous to 
man. 
Toxic Principle. All parts contain the toxic alkaloid Cytisine 
(C U H 14 N 2 0), said by Moer and Partheil to be identical with Ulexine ; 
it is found in the seeds to the extent of 1-5 per cent. Cornevin states that 
the root, wood and bark are nearly constant in toxicity, but that the 
leaves and pods present remarkable seasonal variations owing to the 
migration of the poison into the seeds. The toxic property is not 
destroyed by drying of the plant. 
Symptoms. Laburnum poisoning is of the acrid, narcotic type, with, 
in man, nervous symptoms, abdominal pain, vomiting, purging, tetanic 
spasms and convulsions. 
Cornevin's observations show that the symptoms occur in three 
consecutive stages, (1) excitement, (2) coma and inco-ordination of 
movement, and (3) convulsions. The order of the appearance, their 
duration, and the association of each with the others depend upon 
the susceptibility of the animal and the quantity ingested. Thus the 
