CH. ni] Papilionaceae 25 



PAPILIONACEffi. 



Labamnm {Cytisus Laburnum L.). The well-kaown. and much 

 admired Laburnum must be regarded as one of the most poisonous 

 species of British plants. By numerous experimental researches 

 Comevin proved that all parts of the plant are poisonous — ^root, wood, 

 bark, leaves, flowers, and seeds, especially the seeds. In his experiments 

 the horse, ass, sheep, goat, dog, cat, fowl, duck and pigeon, were utili^ied, 

 seeds being given. He found that 80 centigrammes per kilogramme 

 live weight would be necessary to kill a horse (say 1 lb. for an animal of 

 1200 lb. live weight), 60 centigrammes per kilogramme live weight to 

 kiU an ass (say 6 oz. for an ass weighing 600 lb.) ; and 6 grammes in the 

 case of a fowl (say 0-4 oz. for a fowl weighing 4| lb.). The sheep and 

 goat he was not able to Mil, as they refused the food after a certain 

 point ; the dog and cat he was not able to kill because they so readily 

 vomited ; and the duck and pigeon vomited with extreme facility. 



Many cases of the poisoning of children have occurred through the 

 ingestion of the flowers and seeds. In 1908 a case was recorded by 

 the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, in which two horses were 

 alleged to have been poisoned in North Wales by laburnum seeds, a 

 very small quantity of which was found in their stomachs after 

 death. 



Miiller states that in Dalmatia goats which had eaten Cytisus Weldeni, 

 though themselves uninjured, produced Tnilk which was poisonous to 

 man. 



Toxic Principle. AH parts contain the toxic alkaloid Cytisine 

 (CUH14N2O), said by Moer and Partheil to be identical with Ulexine ; 

 it is found in the seeds to the extent of 1-5 per cent. Comevin states that 

 the root, wood and bark are nearly constant in toxicity, but that the 

 leaves and pods present remarkable seasonal variations owing to the 

 migration of the poison into the seeds. The toxic property is not 

 destroyed by drying of the plant. 



Symptoms. Laburnum poisoning is of the acrid, narcotic type, with, 

 in man, nervous symptoms, abdominal pain, vomiting, purging, tetanic 

 spasms and convulsions. 



Comevin's observations show that the symptoms occur in three 

 consecutive stages, — (1) excitement, (2) coma and inco-ordination of 

 movement, and (3) convulsions. The order of the appearance, their 

 duration, and the association of each with the others depend upon 

 the susceptibility of the animal and the quantity ingested. Thus the 



