BILOXI, MISS., 1904. 

 TABLE III. Analysis of pedigreed varieties groun at Biloxi, 1904. 



15 



a Third year from Porto Rico. 



The common Florida variety, known as Florida Sweet, contains about 

 0.002 per cent of hydrocyanic acid, while the most common bitter 

 variety, known as White Top, contains 0.030 per cent. It happens 

 that in the series of determinations reported in Table III there is a 

 progressive gradation between these extremes, although there is no 

 marked line of distinction between the two classes. Furthermore, 

 some of the varieties supposed to be bitter contain no more hydrocyanic 

 acid than some of those designated as sweet, and in those that are 

 unclassified there is a range from 0.003 to 0.026 per cent. Therefore 

 in selecting varieties for cultivation for forage product it becomes 

 necessary to establish a line of safety. 



It is of course a difficult matter to establish the minimum fatal 

 dose of a poison, especially in the case of one as active as hydrocyanic 

 acid. In a work on toxicology by Peterson the history of many fatal 

 doses of h} T drocyanic acid is given. One instance cited is that of a 

 woman 22 years of age who took the equivalent of 0.04 gram of hydro- 

 cyanic acid and died in fifteen minutes. A man who took the same 



