PINK FAMILY. 95 



among animals. Cornevin, the distinguished French in- 

 vestigator, stated that the following amounts of the 

 ground seeds are sufficient to cause death : 



Calf ... 0.25 Ib. 



Pig . 0.10 " per 100 Ibs. 



Dog 0.90 " live weight. 



Fowl . 0.25 " 



Later investigators obtained different results, and it 

 has since been found that the amount of poison in the 

 seed varies for different seasons and different soils. 



The toxic substance is saponin, of which the seeds con- 

 tain up to 6-56 per cent. This same substance is also 

 Th Po' contained in other parts of the plant, but in 



such small quantities that no harm has arisen 

 from its presence. It has an acrid taste but no odour, and 

 is easily soluble in water, producing a solution which 

 froths when shaken. 



Githagism is the name given to a chronic poisoning 

 caused by the taking of repeated small doses over a long 

 Githa ism P er id of time. The symptoms are a gradual 

 loss of strength and wasting of flesh, accom- 

 panied by chronic diarrhoea and nerve troubles, ending 

 in death. These symptoms are produced in human beings 

 by the use of flour containing cockle. They are not found 

 in lower animals with the exception of pigs. 



The acute poisoning caused by large doses is described 

 as follows by Chesnut : "Intense irritation of the diges- 

 tive tract, vomiting, headache, nausea, ver- 

 Acute tigo> diarrhoea, hot skin, sharp pains in the 



spine, difficult locomotion, and depressed 

 breathing. Coma is sometimes present and may be fol- 

 lowed by death." 



