THE WHOKLED MILKWEED AS A POISOIN'OUS PLANT. 23 



Fifty grams were extracted in a Soxhlet apparatus with various 

 solvents in succession: 



Grams. Per cent. 



Petroleum ether extracted 2. 461 4. 92 



Benzol 1 1. 293 2. 58 



Ether 0. 274 0. 54 



Chloroform 0. 636 1. 27 



Acetone 1. 369 2^ 73 



Alcohol 5. 460 10. 92 



Total 22. 96 



Each of these fractions was tested upon guinea pigs. The petro- 

 leum ether, acetone, and alcohol extracts were nontoxic; the benzol 

 fraction produced the characteristic spasmodic type of intoxication 

 observed on the range, and the autopsy exhibited the typical patho- 

 logic picture. The chloroform and ether extracts were toxic, pro- 

 ducing narcosis. 



Alkaloids. — Twenty-five grams of fresh plant were cut into small 

 pieces and macerated for 24 hours in excess of 1 per cent hyd.ro- 

 chloric acid. The yellowish extract, after filtration, reacted with 

 the ordinary alkaloiclal reagents, giving evidence of a minute quan- 

 tity of basic substance. The base was not precipitated from its aque- 

 ous solutions by potassium hydroxid or ammonia. 



Volatile poisons. — A total of 912 grams of the dried leaves and 

 blossoms of Asclepias galioides .collected at Paonia, Colo., in July, 

 1918, was mixed with 45 grams of barium hydroxid and 15 liters of 

 water and allowed, to stand overnight. The following morning the 

 solution was tested and found to be alkaline to litmus. The mass was 

 then distilled. This irregular procedure was necessary because the 

 experiment was made in the field under conditions which did not per- 

 mit of the most refined manipulation. There were obtained 2,400 mils 

 of distillate, with an odor of tea. This was not alkaline and gave no 

 pricipitate with Mayer's solution in the presence of hydrochloric 

 acid. On standing, a minute quantity of oil collected on the surface. 

 One thousand two hundred mils of this distillate, representing the 

 volatile constituents of 456 grams of dried leaves and blossoms, were 

 drenched into Sheep 491, weighing 130 pounds, without producing 

 any effect. 



Saponins. — Four hundred grams (about 20 toxic doses) of dried and 

 ground Asclepias from Hotchkiss, Colo., were mixed with 4 liters of 

 alcohol, allowed to stand 24 hours, and heated to boiling. The mass 

 was maintained at the boiling temperature for an hour and then was 

 filtered hot. The filtrate was a bright, full green. On cooling and 

 standing, a small quantity of green waxy material separated, which 

 was collected on a filter and washed with alcohol. It was insoluble 

 in water and cold alcohol, was completely soluble in chloroform, and 



