184 VETERINAEY TOXICOLOGY 



A. Pulsatilla has purple flowers, silky outside, and carpels 

 ending in feathery awns. 



A. nemorosa has white or pink glabrous flowers, and 

 carpels ending in a point. 



The anemones contain oil of anemone and anemonin, 

 volatile with steam, and extractible from the distillate by 

 chloroform. The effect resembles that of cantharides, and 

 anemonin is chemically allied to cantharidin. As with 

 cantharides, there is local irritant and blistering action, and 

 internally the anemones give rise to gastro-enteritis, con- 

 vulsions, and paralysis. 



Accidents sometimes occur to animals owing to the 

 prevalence of the plant in woods in spring-time, when fresh 

 green food is most greedily eaten. 



If an alcoholic solution of anemonin is treated with a 

 little sodium nitro-prusside, and then with caustic soda, an 

 intense blood-red colour is produced. This test may be 

 applied to the material separated by steam distillation, and 

 extracted from the distillate by chloroform, after having 

 allowed the chloroform to evaporate at a low temperature. 



Adonis. — The Adonis autumnalis, or pheasant's eye, 

 having five to eight bright scarlet petals, with a dark spot 

 at the base, is rarely found in the warmer counties of 

 England and Ireland. A. vernalis, or ox-eye, has a yellow 

 flower, and is cultivated in Britain. 



These plants contain a glucoside adonidin, which is 

 credited with abortive properties. In large doses death is 

 caused by superpurgation and cardiac disturbance, but 

 cases are not common. 



Caltha. — Caltha palustris, marsh marigold or king-cup, 

 with bright yellow flowers, is abundant in marshy places and 

 on brook-sides. It flowers early in the spring. The nature 

 and symptoms of poisoning by it are like those of 

 Eanunculus. , 



Aquileg'ia is represented by the species Aquilegia vulgaris, 

 or columbine, which grows wild in chalky woods and 

 pastures. According to Cornevin, poisoning by it resembles 

 that of aconite as regards symptoms and lesions. 



