rv] Solanacex 55 
this was probably because man (1) eats only the part poorest in the toxic 
principle (see below), (2) does not eat the skin, (3) always cooks the 
tubers, and (4) rarely subsists only on potatoes for a considerable time. 
He found accidents among animals, however, not rare. In fact, elimina- 
ting cases possibly due to changes caused by weather, cryptogams, and 
ferments, he found poisonings every year unquestionably due to Solanine, 
chiefly among cattle. Cows will eat the haulm without trouble in times 
of scarcity of green fodder, but to the detriment of their health if such 
feeding is prolonged. 
Macfadyen showed some time since that old sprouted Potatoes, 
even after boiling, are poisonous to horses. In 1896 eleven horses died 
from eating in most instances small quantities of spoiled and somewhat 
sprouted Potatoes, and two test-horses fed on the Potatoes died. In 
this case, however, it was conjectured that the poison was probably 
some organic substance generated by the bacteria or fungi growing on 
the Potatoes. 
Chesnut and Wilcox (1901) recorded the death of six pigs due to 
eating sprouted uncooked Potatoes ; after cooking the potatoes did not 
cause poisoning. With sufficient boiling most of the poison appears 
to remain behind in the water and might be thrown away. 
Cases of poisoning of stock by Potatoes appear to have occurred 
more or less frequently in Germany. Two such cases were noted in the 
Berliner Tierdrztliche Wochenschrift in 1909, in one of which 64 cows 
developed symptoms of poisoning after being fed on a large quantity of 
raw tubers, while in the other instance two cows became ill after 
eating Potato parings which, as shown below, contain more Solanine 
than the "flesh." 
In the case of two children who died, F. W. Stoddart, Public Analyst 
of Bristol, after a post-mortem in one case, gave a very guarded opinion 
that death was probably due to Solanine poisoning, due to eating raw 
Potato peel, but was not confident. A most interesting case of severe but 
not fatal poisoning is described in The Lancet (1899). No less than 
56 soldiers in Berlin were badly affected, until the supply of Potatoes 
was stopped, but the men recovered. 
Pammel (1911) states that some persons cannot eat Potatoes because 
poisonous to them, but such persons must be extremely rare, and 
hypersensitive to minimum quantities of Solanine, which is almost 
if not quite absent in the "flesh" of Potatoes. 
Toxic Principle. The Potato plant, like the other species of Solanum 
mentioned above, contains Solanine, which occurs not only in the 
