48 Ei^icacex, Primulaceae [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. 



PRIMULACEiE. 



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 "shghtly 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 kilhng a horse ; 

 Ewart says it "has been reported to render the chafi 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. 



