Some Notes Regarding South African Pharmacology. 125 



had been brought about by the strain of vomiting and purging, 

 acting upon a heart already weakened by disease. The leaves 

 and bark from which the decoction was made were identified 

 as Acocanthera venenata, Don. A hurried examination of the small 

 quantity of leaves and bark received failed to show the presence of 

 any alkaloid, and even a fairly concentrated decoction prepared in 

 our laboratory had no effect whatever on guinea-pigs ; but when 

 10 to 15 c.c. of a 20 per cent, decoction of the plant were given to 

 a dog, vomiting took place within ten minutes, accompanied by very 

 severe and continuous straining, the animal, however, eventually 

 recovering completely. The decoction received from the District 

 Surgeon had the same respective effects when administered to the 

 guinea-pig and dog, although the action on the dog was less violent, 

 owing to the latter decoction being of a less concentrated strength. 



These results, incomplete as they were, showed that the plant 

 contained an active principle of violent action, and that, when 

 administered to any one suffering from a weak heart, fatal conse- 

 quences might ensue. It was concluded from the peculiar action of 

 the plant, and its bitter taste, that it probably contained a glucoside 

 possessing very violent emetic properties, emesis being accompanied 

 by severe straining, and apparently affecting carnivorous animals 

 more seriously than those which are herbivorous. 



Both the physiological and the chemical tests disproved the 

 assertion made in the earlier editions of Smith's " South African 

 Materia Medica," that the plant contains the alkaloid brucine — a 

 substance which yields quite distinct chemical reactions, and also 

 produces totally different symptoms when administered. 



A year later I received from Glen Grey the stomach of a child 

 who had died, according to the District Surgeon's testimony, of 

 peritonitis, which, he said, could have been caused by an irritant 

 poison. It appeared that the child — she was eleven years old — 

 having been ill, a Kaffir "medicine-man" administered some 

 decoction to her as well as to other members of the family. In 

 each case vomiting and purging resulted. The child is said to have 

 vomited three times, after which she fell down and expired almost 

 immediately. Two small parcels containing parts of plants were 

 forwarded for analysis, but there did not appear to be any positive 

 evidence to connect them with the decoction administered to the 

 child. On arrival in the laboratory the stomach was found to be 

 practically empty. The spirits of wine in which it had been pre- 

 served was seen to possess a brilliant green tint, due, as afterwards 

 discovered, to chlorophyll. By repeated shaking of the alcoholic 

 extract with chloroform and ether in turn a substance was obtained 



