230 VETEEINAEY TOXICOLOGY 



slightly injected, and pupils dilated. Death occurred within 

 from thirty-six to forty-eight hours. 



PRIMULACE^. 



This family includes Cyclamen europceum, the common 

 cyclamen or sow-bread, and Anagallis arvensis, the common 

 pimpernel or shepherd's weather-glass. 



Cyclamen is not an indigenous plant, but has established 

 itself locally in Kent and Sussex from garden culture. The 

 pimpernel is a common weed of cultivation, and of corn- 

 fields, gardens, and waste places. 



, Cyclamen contains in the roots the glucoside cyclamin, 

 and pimpernel contains the glucoside smilacin, both of 

 which are varieties of saponin. 



The effects are thus similar to those of other saponin- 

 containing plants, and reference may therefore be made to 

 these (see Caryopliyllacece). 



As regards pimpernel, the plant is too small to make it 

 likely that a large animal could eat enough to cause harm, 

 but extracts have been proved to be poisonous to the horse 

 (Cornevin) . 



APOCYNACE^. 



This family is mainly tropical, and the common and 

 harmless Vinca, or periwinkle, is the only representative in 

 Britain. But many plants of this order are notable causes 

 of poisoning throughout the tropics. As regards the active 

 principles, the species involved all contain glucosides, which 

 are classed by Cushny in the digitalis series. 



The genus Apocynum is represented by A. androsmmi- 

 folium, found in Central Europe, Asia, and America, and 

 A. cannahinum, or Canadian hemp, used in America as a 

 fish poison. The acrid juices, which contain apocynin, 

 provoke vomiting and diarrhoea, and, if in quantity, fatal 

 superpurgation (Cornevin). 



