34 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 



under certain conditions, also yield it. a In fact, hydrocyanic acid may 

 exist in plants in two forms, either as the acid or as one of its salts, or 

 in the form of complex glucosids. & Under the circumstances, the 

 conclusions of Brunnich^ should be held in mind, viz, that "all fodder 

 plants related to sorghum must be used with discretion in either the 

 green or the dried state, and should not be given in large amounts to 

 animals which have fasted for some time." 



In reference to other forage plants, Avery d says that ' ' Kafir-corn 

 leaves also contain this poison, but other forage plants — clover, alfalfa, 

 grasses, and corn — give no test for prussic acid," and Briinnich also 

 found it in Guinea grass or Panicum maximum and P. muticum. 

 Man}^ facts have been collected relative to the distribution of hydro- 

 cyanic acid in plants, yet its exact significance in their metabolism is 

 unknown/ The question as to the relationship of parasites^ to the 

 production of hydrocyanic acid remains to be solved. 



Later investigations will be carried on to determine the nature of 

 this cyanogenetic compound, to determine whether hydrocyanic acid 

 is present in all stages of its growth, but disappears on drying the 

 plant, whether the h} T drocyanic acid production occurs under all con- 

 ditions or only when grown on certain soils, and the amount produced. 

 Hydrocyanic acid will also be looked for in other members of this 

 genus. 



a Plummer, It. H. A. The Formation of Prussic Acid by the Oxidation of Albu- 

 mins. Jour. Physiol., vol. 31, 1904, p. 65; vol. 32, 1904, p. 50. 



b Les Nouveaux Remedes, vol. 14, 1898, p. 272. 



cjour. Chem. Soc, 1903, vol. 83, part 2, p. 792. 



d Avery, S. Laboratory Notes on Poison in Sorghum. Jour. Compar. Med. and 

 Vet. Arch., vol. 23, 1902,' p. 705. 



e Czapek, F. Biochemie d. Pflanzen, 1905, vol. 2, p. 259. 



/Literature on some parasites of the sorghum family can be found in Bot. Gaz., 

 vol. 28, 1899, p. 65. Also in Busse, W., Untersuch. u. d. Krank. der Sorghum Hirse, 

 Arb. a. d. biol. Abtheil. f. Land u. Forstw. am kaiserl. Gesundheitsamt, 1904, vol. 4. 



