LUPINES AS POISONOUS PLANTS. 7 



a definite line of symptoms distinctly different from those produced by 

 the alkaloids, especially characteristic being a hepatitis, which pro- 

 duces a jaundice exhibited in the conjunctiva and visible mucous 

 membranes of the hving animal. Ktihn (1880), Roloff, (1883), 

 Arnold and Lemke (1881), as well as others, found that the intoxica- 

 tion known as lupinosis could not be produced by alcoholic extracts, 

 but was produced by the marc of the seeds; if the poisoning were 

 alkaloidal, the reverse would be the case. Dammann (1902, p. 343) 

 states that the plant often becomes niore toxic on keeping. More- 

 over, while the alkaloids are always present the ingredient producing 

 lupinosis is inconstant. The plants raised on some fields always 

 produce poisoning, while on others they are harmless (Raimondi, 

 1891). It was found (Dammann, 1902, p. 342) that the substance 

 producing the disease is insoluble in alcohol, ether, glycerine, and fatty 

 oils, and is soluble with difiiculty in water. It is not readily destroyed 

 by dry heat, but steam under pressure makes it harmless. This 

 hypothetical substance was called ictrogen by Kiihn (1880) and 

 lupinotoxin by Arnold and Schneidemtihl (1883). It has only been 

 recognized by its physiological action. 



Ictrogen is not considered to be a product of the metabohsm of the 

 lupine, but to be the result of the growth of microorganisms upon the 

 plants. This explanation is not based, however, upon any experi- 

 mental evidence, but is reached by a process of eUmination of other 

 possible theories. This is the theory advanced by Dammann (1902, 

 p. 341-343). Other theories of the cause of lupinosis have been 

 advanced. For example, Ziirn (1879) propounded a theory that the 

 disease is produced by microorganisms in or on the lupine leaves ; in 

 other words, that lupines do not cause the disease, but simply serve 

 as a carrier. This theory has not been taken very seriously by others, 

 while the theory that the disease is produced by ictrogen and that this 

 substance is produced through the action of some unknown micro- 

 organisms upon the lupines is quite generally accepted as the most 

 probable explanation. 



PART II.~EXPERIMENTAL WORK. 



PHARMACOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION BY SOLLMANN. 

 SCOPE OF THE WORK. 



A series of experiments upon Montana lupines, identified as 

 Lupinus fserlceufi, L. leucophyllus , and L. cyaneus, was conducted by 

 Dr. Torald Sollmann, under th(5 general direction of V. K. Chesnut, 

 then in charge of the work on poisonous plants in the United States 

 Department of Agriculture, and following is a report of the results. 



Eighteen animals, rabbits and guinea pigs, wore fed upon pods 

 and seeds with no results, none of them eating enough to produce 

 toxic effects. 



