POISONOUS PLANTS 233 



The lesions were chiefly intense congestion of the small 

 intestines, particularly of the duodenum and jejunum. 

 The caecum and colon were similarly affected; contents 

 liquid and sanguinaceous. There was patchy congestion of 

 the stomach, especially at the cardiac end. The brain and 

 spinal cord were normal. 



There is no antidote for the treatment of oleander poison- 

 ing, which is symptomatic. Evacuation and stimulation 

 are indicated, and chloroform or chloral against convulsions, 

 if marked. 



The detection is attended by uncertainty, unless the 

 poisoning was clearly indicated at the outset. It is difficult 

 to separate the glucosides, but thevetin gives a deep blue 

 colour on boiling with 1 to 4 hydrochloric acid, which, 

 according to Windsor, is characteristic. 



ASCLEPIADACE^. 



The order Asclepiadacea, or milkweed family, includes 

 plants which' have an abundance of milky, acrid, and 

 poisonous sap, and comprise Asclepias syriaca, cultivated 

 in Europe, but native to America, where it is known in the 

 North-Eastern States as milkweed or silkweed; A. tuberosa 

 is the Eastern United States 'pleurisy-root'; and A. mexi- 

 cana and J . eriocarpa are milkweeds of California, Oregon, 

 and Nevada. 



In Europe Vincetoxicum officinale and Cynanchum acutum, 

 belonging to the same order, are dangerous. All these 

 species appear to act as powerful drastics, and cause poison- 

 ing in accordance therewith. 



In South Africa the disease known as 'krempziekte,' or 

 cramp sickness, is ascribed in the Western Cape to the 

 Cynanchum capense, or klimop, which is a trailing creeper ; 

 and in the Eastern Cape to species of Cotyledon, belonging 

 to the Crassulacece (q.v.), and known as C'Nenta. 



The causation of the C'Nenta disease has been variously 

 ascribed to atmospheric conditions, to the plants, or to 



