48 Ericaceae, Primulacese [CH. 
Azalea (Azalea sp.). A suspected case of poisoning was recorded 
in the Journal of the Board of Agriculture in 1907. No British record 
of poisoning has been found. Various species of Azalea (A. pontica, 
A. indica, A. arborescens, A. nudiflora, etc.) are stated to be very poison- 
ous to all animals which browse on them in the East. Cuttings should 
never be thrown down where they can be eaten by stock. 
Toxic Principle. Little work has been done on these plants, but 
they are believed to contain Ericolin, Arbutin, and Andromedotoxin as 
in the case of rhododendrons (p. 47). 
Symptoms. Azaleas appear to be narcotic, and to produce symptoms 
resembling those caused by Lolium temulentum (Cornevin). 
REFERENCES. 
73, 144, 190, 205. 
PRIMULACESE. 
Scarlet Pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis L.). Unless it occurs in 
very considerable quantity this little plant is unlikely to be eaten to 
an extent sufficient to cause definite poisonous symptoms, as it is a corn- 
field weed. It may be taken, however, if animals are allowed to run 
over stubble. Sheep are said to refuse it in general, but have died from 
eating it (see below). 
There seems to be no doubt that if eaten in sufficient quantity it has 
a poisonous action, having an irritant action on the digestive tract 
the intestines as well as producing narcotic effects. Strasburger notes 
it as "slightly poisonous" ; Bailey says "a dog is stated to have been 
destroyed by making it swallow three drachms of the extract," while 
according to Hyams the fluid extract in 4 drachm doses is fatal to dogs 
(the size of the dog is not mentioned!); at the Veterinary School at 
Lyons horses were intentionally killed by administering a decoction of 
the plant ; in America Chesnut notes it as suspected of killing a horse ; 
Ewart says it "has been reported to render the chaff from oat crops 
infested by the weed unpalatable to stock"; and Gilruth states that 
a year or two ago it was responsible for the death of a large number of 
sheep in Victoria, apparently acting as a narcotic poison (Amer. Vet. 
Rev., July, 1913, p. 383.). On the Pacific coast the plant is known 
as "Poison Weed." Grognier and Orfila are stated to have put its 
poisonous properties beyond doubt. 
