ZYGADENUS, OR DEATH CAMAS. 41 



poisonous principle of Zygadenus and thus prove valuable as a medic- 

 inal remedy. This was used only in repeated doses, and the results 

 will be discussed under the next head. 



REPEATED DOSES OF TANNIC ACID AND SODIUM BICARBONATE. 



Inasmuch as tannic acid is a recognized remedial agent for poison- 

 ing by alkaloids, it seemed strange that so little benefit followed 

 its use. In seeking for an explanation, it occurred to the writers 

 that it might be accounted for by the fact that, because of the char- 

 acter of a ruminant's stomachs, the remedy does not actually come in 

 contact with any considerable quantity of the poisonous substance. 

 The first stomach of a ruminant always contains a large quantity of 

 material. When an animal feeds upon a poisonous plant, the ma- 

 terial taken up goes to the first stomach; some of this, after macera- 

 tion, proceeds to the third and fourth stomachs, while another part 

 goes on only after rumination. If the remedy is given in the form of a 

 drench, it will be distributed in all the stomachs, although ordinarily 

 the larger part of the drench goes directly to the third and fourth 

 stomachs. That part of the drench which goes to the fourth stomach, 

 we can assume, takes effect on the alkaloid which has arrived at that 

 part of the digestive canal. The portion of the drench which stops 

 in the first stomach meets a mass of organic matter, in which it is 

 lost; there is no reason to think that any antidote for an alkaloid 

 will have any selective effect, so as to attack the Zygadenus alkaloid 

 rather than the multitude of other substances in the stomach with 

 which it can unite. The only hope of destroying the alkaloid under 

 such circumstances would be by flooding the first stomach with the 

 antidote, and that is practically impossible. So even when the anti- 

 dote is introduced by a canula directly into the first stomach, it would 

 be impracticable to use a quantity sufficient to produce any marked 

 effect. 



On the other hand, inasmuch as no absorption takes place in the 

 stomachs, if the antidote could meet the poisonous material as it 

 passes through the fourth stomach good results might be expected. 

 On the basis of this conclusion, it seemed best to the writers to try 

 the effect of antidotes repeated at frequent intervals ; it was thought 

 that if the antidote could reach the fourth stomach frequently 

 enough to catch the alkaloid as it passed from the first stomach and 

 render it more or less innocuous before passing into the intestine, the 

 remedy might be distinctly beneficial. 



Four experiments of this character were conducted with tannic 

 acid, all with controls, which received no remedy but were fed with 

 the same quantity of Zygadenus. The tannic acid was given in doses 

 of 1 and 2 grams, repeated at intervals varying from 10 to 30 min- 

 utes, or longer in some cases, at the latter part of the experiment. 



