LUPINES AS POISONOUS PLANTS. 37 
(k) In autopsies there is seen a citron-yellow color of the body tissues, hemorrhages 
_ in various parts of the body, especially in the mucous membranes of the alimentary 
canal, the peritoneum, omentum, mesentery, the epicardium and endocardium, 
frequently fullness of gall bladder, generally an acute yellow liver atrophy, while 
in other cases the whole picture presents an appearance of acute phosphorus poisoning. 
The German authors distinguish between acute and chronic 
cases, the symptoms being the same, but in the latter the liver 
exhibits chronic interstitial inflammation, leading to atrophy of the 
organ, this being accompanied by nephritis and enlargement of the 
spleen. | 
It will be noticed that the laboratory results obtained by Sollmann 
and by Clawson and Black agree very well with the field experiments 
with sheep, but differ very distinctly from the symptoms of lupinosis. 
The fever and jaundice which are especially characteristic of lupi- 
nosis have never been observed in sheep in America, either in experi- 
mental feeding or in poisoning upon the range. It must be con- 
cluded that ictrogen is not the cause of loss of sheep on the ranges of 
the United States, but that the poisoning is due to the alkaloids in 
the lupines. 
The symptoms in the corral experiments and in range cases are 
distinctly those of alkaloidal poisoning. The question naturally 
arises as to the explanation of the difference between the poisoning 
of animals as exhibited in Germany and in the United States. The 
lupines examined in Germany possess alkaloids which are similar to 
those found in the American lupines, if not identical with them, and 
yet few clear cases of alkaloidal poisoning of domestic animals have 
been reported, while in America there has been no poisoning from 
ictrogen. In the absence of any determination of what ictrogen 
really is or how itis formed, only a hypothetical explanation can be 
given. If it is granted that ictrogen is the cause of lupinosis and if 
the opinion is accepted, which seems to be held by the later authors, 
that ictrogen is formed by the action of microorganisms upon the 
lupine, a possible explanation lies in the different conditions of the 
countries. The European lupines are cultivated plants, grown and 
handled like hay. The poisoning cases are caused by lupine that is 
exposed in the mass, and sometimes under conditions favorable to 
the growth of microorganisms. The American lupines are wild 
plants, which grow in a somewhat scattered manner; they are not 
collected in masses, and consequently do not have an especially 
favorable environment for the growth of microorganisms. More- 
over, it is very possible that the particular organisms which produce 
the toxic substance in Europe are not present in this country; of 
this nothing can be said positively, for no one has yet been able to 
demonstrate that any specific organism or group of organisms is 
responsible for the hypothetical substance ictrogen. Therefore, on 
the supposition that there is such a substance as ictrogen, or lupino- 
