924 



SIR THOMAS R. FKASER ON THE 



Table XXI — continued. 





Weight 



Dose 



Date 



of 



per 





Animal. 



Kilo. 



191-2. 







Oct. 17 



30 



0-005 



„ 28 



HS 



005 



„ 28 



28 



0-0075 



„ 29 



30 



o-oi 



Actual 

 Dose. 



0-00015 



00019 



0002 1 



0-0003 



Result. 



Death in less 

 than 21 hrs. 



Death in from 

 48 to 60 hrs. 



Death in ahout 

 25 hrs. 



Death in from 

 2 to 3 days. 



Notes. 



No sympton ohserved hefore death except 

 motor weakness. After death, much con- 

 gestion of tissues beneath skin of back and 

 thighs, but no haemorrhages. Much blood 

 in stomach and large intestine. 



On 2nd day, motor weakness ; swelling of 

 mouth, removed by escape of red frothy 

 fluid in which many red corpuscles. After 

 death, congestion and haemorrhages at back 

 on each side of urostyle, and small blood 

 coagula in subcutaneous space between lower 

 jaw and clavicles. Much blood in stomach 

 and small intestines, none in largo intestines 

 and rectum. 



Do. do. After death, much subcutaneous 

 congestion at back, with minute haemorrhages, 

 and also in pectoral region. Floor of mouth 

 intensely congested. Much blood in stomach 

 and intestines, especially the large inte.-tine. 



No symptom except escape of much blood by 

 cloaca within 18 hours. After death, slight 

 subcutaneous haemorrhages at back. Stomach 

 nearly empty and no blood in it. Intestines 

 distended and dark purple or black, with 

 dark red gelatinous contents containing much 

 blood. Rectum distended, dark brown, and 

 containing dark red liquid in which much 

 blood. 



It is of interest to observe that in frogs the minimum lethal dose of croton oil is 

 practically the same as that of the ether extract of the Government of India arrow- 

 poison— about '001 to 0'002 grm. per kilo; each being therefore about five times 

 more lethal than that poison. 



As the details of the experiments noted in the above tables show, croton oil 

 therefore reproduces the effects of the Government of India arrow-poison and of its 

 etherial extract in all those respects to which attention has been drawn. In warm- 

 blooded animals it causes only local changes, even with large doses ; whereas in frogs 

 it acts as one of the most powerful of death-producing poisons, implicating parts 

 anatomically remote from the locality of application, and in both respects revealing 

 remarkable and previously unknown anomalies in its action. 



Thai in causing this generalised action in frogs the oil or some constituent 

 of it is carried by the blood or lymph circulation from the' locality of appli- 

 cation to distant parts of the body is manifestly shown by the following 

 experiments (Table XXII). 



