LUPINES AS POISONOUS PLANTS. al 
a definite line of symptoms distinctly different from those produced by 
the alkaloids, especially characteristic being a hepatitis, which pro- 
duces a jaundice exhibited in the conjunctiva and visible mucous 
membranes of the lving animal. Kitihn (1880), Roloff, (1883), 
Arnold and.Lemke (1881), as well as others, found that the intoxica- 
tion known as lupinosis could not be produced by alcoholic extracts, 
but was produced by the marc of the seeds; if the poisoning were 
alkaloidal, the reverse would be the case. Dammann (1902, p. 348) 
states that the plant often becomes more toxic on keeping. More- 
over, while the alkaloids are always present the ingredient producing 
lupinosis is inconstant. The plants raised on some fields always 
produce poisoning, while on others they are harmless (Raimondi, 
1891). It was found (Dammann, 1902, p. 342) that the substance 
producing the disease is insoluble in alcohol, ether, glycerine, and fatty 
oils, and is soluble with difficulty in water. It is not readily destroyed 
by dry heat, but steam under pressure makes it harmless. This 
hypothetical substance was called ictrogen by Ktthn (1880) and 
lupinotoxin by Arnold and Schneidemthl (1883). It has only been 
recognized by its physiological action. 
Ictrogen is not considered to be a product of the metabolism of the 
lupine, but to be the result of the growth of microorganisms upon the 
plants. This explanation is not. based, however, upon any experi- 
mental evidence, but is reached by a process of elimination of other 
possible theories. This is the theory advanced by Dammann (1902, 
_p. 341-343). Other theories of the cause of lupinosis have been 
advanced. For example, Ziirn (1879) propounded a theory that the 
_ disease is produced by microorganisms in or on the lupine leaves; in 
other words, that lupines do not cause the disease, but simply serve 
asacarrier. ‘This theory has not been taken very seriously by others, 
while the theory that the disease is produced by ictrogen and that this 
substance is produced through the action of some unknown micro- 
organisms upon the lupines is quite generally accepted as the most 
probable explanation. 
PART II.—EXPERIMENTAL WORK. 
PHARMACOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION BY SOLLMANN. 
SCOPE OF THE WORK. 
A series of experiments upon Montana lupines, identified as 
Lupinus sericeus, L. leucophyllus, and L. cyaneus, was conducted by 
Dr. Torald Sollmann, under the general direction of V. K. Chesnut, 
then in charge of the work on poisonous plants in the United States 
Department of Agriculture, and following is a report of the results. 
Kighteen animals, rabbits and guinea pigs, were fed upon pods 
and seeds with no results, none of them eating enough to produce 
toxic effects. 
