14 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 



to the " trembles," when fed with Eupatorium ageratoides, the sup- 

 posed carrier of the disease, showed practically no symptoms. He 

 then adds the remarkable report of his assistant : " While I held the 

 dog's mouth open a friend poured the extract into the dog's mouth. 

 The dog choked and coughed the extract into my face and mouth. 

 I was in a room while the mixture was steeping and also on the pre- 

 vious evening. At 10.30 I was taken with a fit of cramps and the fol- 

 lowing day was nauseous. Several times during the three following- 

 days I had fits of trembling, always accompanying the extension of 

 limb." In this connection it may be stated that the present writer's 

 laboratory assistant and himself squeezed their material by hand, 

 handled it, and made their own extracts in a rather close room with- 

 out experiencing any such effects. 



Experiment No. 6. — In this case 2 ounces (56.7 grains) of the 

 snakeroot was placed in the cage with a rabbit. The rabbit died in 

 three days. No tremors had been noted. This case can be excluded 

 because of the absence of any accurate clinical report or histological 

 examination, as rabbits are very apt to die of intercurrent diseases, 

 especially coccidiosis. 



Experiment No. 7. — This is of the same type as experiment No. 6, 

 and open to the same objection. Moseley merely quotes the report 

 of his pupil as to the presence of tremors. 



Experiment No. 8. — This experiment consisted in injecting subcu- 

 taneously into a rabbit weighing 1,383 grams an aqueous extract of 

 3 grains of the plant. This injection was followed by tremors. Three 

 days later the animal was fed with 2 to 3 ounces (57.7 to 85 grams) of 

 the leaves and branches, and died in one hundred and twenty hours. 

 There was no constipation. Moseley says, " The effects on her actions 

 and appearance were not striking and might have escaped notice if I 

 had not looked for them." 



Experiment No. 9. — A rabbit was fed for three days with an aque- 

 ous extract of the plant. The only result noted was a " tremulous mo- 

 tion of the sides, with more rapid respiration." This animal was then 

 fed with a milk extract of the plant. No constipation resulted, but the 

 same trembling was seen, and save for a slight lessening of strength 

 " she has seemed well." 



Experiment No. 10. — This experiment consisted in feeding a milk 

 extract of the plant, but with only slight action. A rabbit was 

 reported to tremble after eating 67 grains of the leaves and branches 

 of a fresh plant, but survived. 



Experiment No. 11. — A young lamb weighing 40 pounds (18.14 

 kilos) was fed with the leaves of this plant. The animal showed 

 trembling and died in four days, having eaten about 29 ounces (822 

 grams). There was no constipation. The kidne} r s were found to be 



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