AND ITS RELATION TO ANIMAL LIFE 47 



" The experiments of Siebold, Dunstan and 

 Short, and Conroy proved that the pharma- 

 ceutical preparations of Nux Vomica, the 

 extract and tincture, vary materially in alka- 

 loidal strength. 



" This variation is overcome by Dunstan 

 and Short as far as the medical tinctures are 

 concerned." 



Such instances could be multiplied indefin- 

 itely, but I have quoted sufficient statistics to 

 show the wide range of deterioration of which 

 the vegetable world is capable. Can it be 

 doubted that the result of these variations 

 must be in many cases to provide man and 

 beast with a food incapable of supplying him 

 with the bare chemical necessities of life, 

 irrespective altogether of the economic side 

 of the question from the farmer's point of 

 view ? 



To pass from the plant to the animal, I have 

 already in the previous chapter referred to the 

 variation in the blood, as shown in what is 

 considered as normal and the acute anaemic 

 condition. 



I now append analyses of two samples of 



