38 Umbelliferx [OH. 
Horse 0-100 per cent, of the live weight. 
Ox 0-125 
Sheep 0-200 
Pig 0-150 
Eabbit 2-000 
Holmes described Oenanthe crocata as the most dangerous and 
virulently poisonous of all our native plants (Pharm. Jour., 1902). 
Other species of Oenanthe are also poisonous in a less degree 
e.g. 0. fistulosa L., and 0. Phellandrium Lamk. 
Toxic Principle. Poehl (1895) obtained from the root of this species 
an amorphous neutral product which he designated Oenanthotoxin. The 
latest investigation is that by Tutin, who examined entire dried plants 
collected in early spring, and the experiments confirmed the conclusion 
arrived at by Poehl, that the toxic principle is a neutral resin. A dark- 
coloured, viscid resin, insoluble in water, and equal to 3 per cent, of the 
weight of the plant, was extracted, and it is stated that the neutral 
portions of the petroleum and ether extracts of this resin represent the 
toxic principle of the plant. As there is no evidence of the homogeneity 
of this product, and it is probably complex in character, it was given no 
name or formula. The fact that it has poisonous properties was ascer- 
tained by administering the various products to guinea pigs per os. 
Symptoms. In poisoning by 0. crocata the symptoms generally 
appear very quickly, and in serious cases death may follow in from one 
hour to a few hours. In Tutin' s experiments on guinea pigs the extracts 
referred to above rendered the animal hypersensitive in two to four 
hours, while marked convulsions, with trismus soon appeared; the 
heart-beat became very noticeably slow and the convulsions persisted 
until death ensued. There is great restlessness, difficult breathing, 
convulsions, loss of sensation, blindness and stupefaction (Miiller); 
Lander says the symptoms recall hemlock poisoning, with the addition 
of green foetid diarrhoea. 
In cattle, one hour after eating, there is depression and accelerated 
respiration; the conjunctivse are injected, the eye turns in its orbit, 
the pulse is weak but rapid, and there is foaming. Later, there is 
colic, and spasmodic contractions of limbs and jaws. If the quantity 
ingested is sufficient to cause death, the animal falls, but still moves 
its limbs. There is bellowing, contraction of pupils, insensibility, and 
death in convulsions or, if not fatal, cattle may remain paralysed. 
In the horse, the appearance of the symptoms and the course of the 
illness are much more rapid and the nervous symptoms are accentuated. 
