WESTERN SNEEZEWEED AS A POISONOUS PLANT. 17 



pasture; an observer followed him and succeeded in getting pho- 

 tographic records of the vomiting, one of which is shown in Plate II, 

 figure 6. He was kept in the pasture the rest of the season until 

 about the first of October. During this time as shown in the curve 

 of weight, figure 5, he gained a little in weight, but was not in good 

 condition. On September 26 he weighed 409 pounds. A report 

 received from the owner of the animal December 17, 1919, indicates 

 that after being taken from the range the animal remained in poor 

 condition, and there is reason to assume that the injury produced 

 by the feeding of H. hoopesii was permanent. 



CHEMICAL EXAMINATION OF THE PLANT. 



No previous analysis of Helenium hoopesii has been published. A 

 nearly related plant, Helenium autumnale, the sneezeweed of the 

 eastern United States, has been investigated by Koch (1874) and 

 Reeb (1910). The latter isolated the substance of the formula 

 C 20 H 25 5 , which he called "helenic acid." The pharmacology of 

 this was investigated by Lamson (1913), who named it "helenin" — 

 an unfortunate choice, since that name was already established in 

 science and commerce for a mixture of lactones obtained from Inula 

 helenium,. It was thought probable that the H. hoopesii would be 

 found to contain helenic acid or a nearly related substance. A thor- 

 ough chemical search, however, failed to reveal the presence of 

 helenic acid or of any toxic compound which resembles it in physical 

 and chemical characteristics. 



The poisonous properties of Helenium hoopesii depend upon the 

 presence of very small quantities of an exceedingly toxic glucosid 

 to which the name "dugaldin" has been given. This occurs most 

 abundantly in the leaves. It is found also in the stems, flowers, and 

 seeds and in minute amounts in the root. Careful investigation of 

 all the other constituents of the plant has shown that they are non- 

 toxic to sheep and guinea pigs. 



Dugaldin may best be prepared from the juice of the fresh radical 

 leaves of H. hoopesii. The juice is expressed from the shredded leaves, 

 which yield 40 to 60 per cent of brown, very bitter juice, the quantity 

 depending on their age and the climatic conditions. The juice is 

 preserved with 0.5 per cent of chloroform, allowed to stand 12 hours 

 to settle, and filtered. The filtrate is then treated with animal char- 

 coal which is kept suspended in the liquid by frequent stirring or 

 shaking. After 4 to 7 days, the glucosid and coloring matters will 

 have been adsorbed by the charcoal. The mixture is now filtered, 

 when the filtrate appears colorless and slightly sweet instead of bitter 

 and is nontoxic even in large doses. The animal charcoal which 



28468°— 21— Bull. 947 3 



