20 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 



after simply clearing the woodland where it occurred and turning it 

 into pasture/' Again, severe epidemics have occurred in winter when 

 the foliage has disappeared, which would tend to exclude the higher, 

 non-evergreen plants as the cause of this disorder. In fact, all the 

 evidence in hand is against the causation of this disease by such plants, 

 and certain analogies with cases of botulismus suggest a somewhat 

 similar cause. If there is any truth in the statement that cattle ex- 

 posed in pasture to night air especial^ contract the disease, this fact 

 'might suggest the more or less direct connection of some night organ- 

 ism as a carrier of the parasite, and certain parasites are supposed to 

 be associated with certain localities. 



Very little is known chemically of Eupatorium ageratoides. 



a Heeringen, E., 1. c, p. 9. 



Notes. — A full bibliography can be found in Schuchardt B., Die Milch- 

 krankh. d. Xord Ainerikaner, Janus, vol. 2, pp. 437, 525, 1897-98. 



The most interesting experimental paper is that of Graff, while that of 

 Drake is valuable for its fund of personal experiences as told by the settlers, 

 and that of Schuchardt is the best literary handling of the question. 



Eupatorium perforatum, a closely allied plant, has received some chemical 

 attention, and a nonnitrogenous body, eupatorin, has been obtained. While the 

 author states it will kill mice on subcutaneous injection, he fails to give the 

 dose, and nothing can be drawn from this report as to its physiological activity. 



Shamel, C. H. Eupatorin : The Active Principle of Eupatorium Perfoliatum. 

 Am. Chem. Jour., vol. 14, p. 224, 1892. 



Latin, G. Eupatorium Perfoliatum. Pharm. Jour, and Trans., 3 s., vol. 11, 

 p. 192, 1881. 



121—1 



