POISONOUS PROPERTIES OF THE WHORLED MILKWEED. 



9 



of polymorphonuclear leucocytes, occurred in the mucosa of the 

 ileum of Sheep 519. In some blood vessels thrombuslike areas oc- 

 curred. 



Spleen. — This organ was not very abnormal, though the presence 

 of considerable hemosiderin pigment indicated a possible congestion 

 which had subsided. The edematous condition of the Malpighian 

 corpuscles in the spleen of Sheep 547 indicated a possible congestion. 



While there was a marked similarity in the tissue changes to those 

 in animals poisoned by A. galioides, there were certain slight differ- 

 ences, mainly of degree. On the whole the findings in the two sheep 

 examined agreed very well. 



TOXIC AND LETHAL DOSAGE. 



The following table shows the dosage, estimated as green plant, of 

 A. pumila, which resulted in sickness or death of the sheep. 



Table 4. — Dosages of A. pumila resulting in sickness or death.' 





Quantity 







Quantity 







Quantity 







per 100 







per 100 







per 100 





Animal. 



pounds 



of 

 animal. 



Result. 



Animal. 



pounds 



of 

 animal. 



Result. 



Animal. 



pounds 



of 

 animal. 



Result. 





Pounds. 







Pounds. 







Pounds. 





Sheep 546. . . 



0.787 



Sick. 



Sheep 516... 



0.984 



Sick. 



i Sheep 539... 



0.787 



Sick. 



Sheep 482... 



.787 



Do. 



Sheep 547... 



1.063 



Do. 



Sheep 516... 



1.85 



Do. 



Sheep 486... 



.827 



Do. 



Sheep 554. . . 



1.181 



Do. 



Sheep 542... 



1.968 



Do. 



Sheep 536... 



.866 



Do. 



Sheep 546... 



1.339 



Do. 



Sheep 519... 



2.165 



Died. 



Sheep 539... 



.905 



Do. 



Sheep 512. . . 



1.496 



Do. 



Sheep 547... 



2.559 



Do. 



Sheep 552. . . 



.984 



Do. 



Sheep 520... 



1.693 



Do. 









It will be noticed that the smallest quantity which produced in- 

 toxication was 0.787 pound per 100 pounds of animal. As shown 

 in Table 1, the largest quantity fed without effect was 0.866 pound, 

 to Sheep 530. In this case, however, there were possible symptoms. 

 The smallest dose that produced death was 2.165 pounds per 100 

 pounds of animal. It may be recalled that in all the A. pumila cases 

 the whole plant was used. There are no data to determine the com- 

 parative toxicity of different parts of the plant. 



With A. galioides the smallest quantity of the whole plant that 

 produced symptoms was 0.22 pound, and this dosage resulted in 

 death. In comparing the two plants it is evident that A. galioides is 

 nearty 3.6 times as toxic as A. pumila. 



While, in the experiments with A. galioides, there was practically 

 no difference between the toxic and lethal doses, in A. pumila it re- 

 quired nearly three times the toxic dose to produce death. As com- 

 pared with A. galioides the lethal dose of A. pumila was 9.84 times 

 as great. Because of the small number of cases which were com- 

 pared, these figures must not be considered as exact, but they give 

 a general idea of the relative toxicity of the two plants. 



