2 BULLETIN" 125, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



have been Zygadenus. This is the earliest reference to probable 

 poisoning by Zygademis which has been found by the writers. 



Asa Gray (1848) says of Amianthium nuttallii, now known as 

 Zygademis nuttallii, " Crescent cum Kamassa esculenta, quo bulbi 

 nocentes viatoribus saepe confusi sunt." 



Hooker (1838) says of Leimanihium nutallii, which is the same as 

 the species mentioned by Gray, " 'Poison or Death Camass' of 

 the Chenooks, from the violent effects of the roots, which create 

 vomiting." 



Watson (1880) speaks of Zygademis venenosus as poisonous and 

 known to the Indians as "Death-Camass," and says, on page 184, that 

 the bulb of Z. paniculatus is also poisonous. 



Apparently the Lloyds (1887) were the first to state definitely the 

 symptoms produced by the plant in human beings. 



Irish (1889) fed "cammers" to steers without effect. 



Hillman (1893) published a newspaper bulletin calling attention 

 to the poisonous character of Zygademis, and in 1897 he published 

 another newspaper bulletin on the same subject. Also, in another 

 publication (1897&, p. 115), he states that a horse is reported to 

 have been made sick by the seeds of Zygademis paniculatus in hay. 



Coville (1897) says that Zygadenus venenosus causes extreme vomit- 

 ing and that it is sometimes used by medicine men of the Klamath 

 Indians, mixed with the dried roots of Iris missouriensis and a little 

 tobacco, to give a person a severe nausea, in order to secure a heavy 

 fee for making him well again. 



Chesnut (1902, p. 321-322) tells of the knowledge of this plant 

 by the Indians of Mendocino County, Cal., and their use of it for 

 medicinal purposes. 



Hunt published an abstract in 1902 announcing the discovery of 

 the alkaloid. 



In a copy of McCarthy (1903), apparently annotated by the 

 author, the statement is made that Zygadenus glaberrimus and 

 Z. leimanthoides are poisonous. 



Nelson (1906) demonstrated by feeding experiments the poisonous 

 effect of Zygadenus upon sheep. 



REVIEW OF PHARMACOLOGICAL WORK.' 



The bulbs of Zygadenus paniculatus were found by Collier (1882) 

 to give several alkaloidal reactions, but the first attempts to isolate 

 and determine the chemical and toxic properties of the poison of 

 Zygadenus seem to be those of Reid Hunt, 2 special expert of the 

 Bureau of Plant Industry in 1901, who worked with the leaves and 

 flowering tops of Z. venenosus. Hunt prepared an alcoholic extract 



1 The review of pharmacological work was prepared by Dr. Reid Hunt, of the Harvard Medical School. 

 - Hunt's results were submitted in a report to the Department in 1901 and also reported at a meeting of 

 the American Physiological Society. (Hunt, 1902.) 



