BULLETIlSr 365, U. S, DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTUEE. 



think that the eastern species are not poisonous, but conditions of 

 grazing are so different in the East that cattle do not come in con- 

 tact with the plant to any extent. Recently specific accounts have 

 come to this office of the poisoning of cows by Delphinium tricorne 

 in West Virginia. 



For convenience of reference, there is given below a list of the species 

 of Delphinium that are said to be poisonous to stock in the United 

 States. This list is compiled from the literature of the subject, from 

 office correspondence, and from personal interviews with stockmen, 

 and no attempt has been made to edit it critically from the standpoint 

 of the systematist. So far as specimens have come to the office of 

 Poisonous Plant Investigations they have been determined by bot- 

 anists of the Bureau of Plant Industry, but published statements have 

 been taken at their face value. 



Delphinium andersonii Gray. 

 Delphinium barbeyi Huth. 

 Delphinium Mcolor Nutt. 

 Delphinium, calif ornicum T. & G. 

 Delphinium carolinianum Walt. 

 Delphinium consolida L. 

 Delphinium cucullatum A. Nels. 

 Delphinium elongatum Rydb. 

 Delphinium exaltatum Ait. 

 Delphinium geyeri Greene. 

 Delphinmm glaucum Wats. 

 Delphinium hesperium Gray. 

 Delphinium macrophyllum Wooton. 

 Delphinium menziesii D. C, D. nelsonii 

 Greene. 



Delphinium multiflorum Rydb. 

 Delphinium occidentale Wats. 

 Delphinium recurvatum Greene. 

 Delphinium robustum Rydb. 

 Delphinium sapellonis Ckll. 

 Delphinium scaposum Greene. 

 Delphinium, scopulorum Gray. 

 Delphinium simplex Doug. 

 Delphiniufn treleasei Bush. 

 Delphinium tricorne Michx. 

 Delphinium trolliifolium Gray. 

 Delphinium virescens Nutt., D. penar- 

 dii Huth. 



THE ALKALOIDS OF DELPHINIUMS. 



Most of the laboratory work on the poisonous properties of the 

 Delphiniums has been done in Europe on the seeds of Delphinium 

 staphisagria, inasmuch as the seeds of this plant have been used 

 since ancient times as a parasiticide and to some extent for medicinal 

 purposes. 



The analysis of the seeds of Delphinium staphisagria shows that 

 they contain four alkaloids, namely, delphinin or delphin, del- 

 phinoidin, delphisin, and staphisagrin. The chemical composition 

 of these alkaloids has been given somewhat differently by investi- 

 gators. Marquis, 1877, who claimed to have first obtained the pure 

 alkaloids, gives the formulas as follows : 



Delphinin, C22H36NOe. 

 Delphinoidin, O42H68N2O7. 



Delphisin, C27H46N2O4. 

 Staphisagrin, O22HS3NOB. 



The most characteristic and important alkaloids are delphinin 

 and staphisagrin, and of the two, delphinin has been investigated the 

 more thoroughly and is the more powerful alkaloid. The results 



