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THE AOBICULTUBAL JOURNAL. 



Xanihium StrumaHum, Linn. 



By J. Medley Wood, A.L.S. 



IN the year 1883 I brought to the notice 

 of the Government the fact that this 

 imported weed was on the increase in the 

 Colony, both on the coast and in the mid- 

 lands, and suggested that measures should 

 be taken for its extermination, as from 

 information which I had received from 

 Australia and which I forwarded to 

 Government, the plant was said to be 

 injurious to cattle, and I also suggested 

 that it should be included in the same 

 Law as Xanth urn spinosum, Linn In 

 consequence of this, notices were issued 

 to the country Magistrates and road over- 

 seers, with photographs of the plant, and 

 instructions for its destruction by road- 

 sides and other places, but it was not in- 

 cluded in the Law. Some persons 

 reported that it was not an imported 

 plant, but a native of the Colony, that 

 they had known it for many years, and 

 that it was not injurious to cattle, and 

 one person stated that his neighbour had 

 fed his pigs on it, that they did not care 

 much for it but did eat it, aud it apparently 

 did them no harm ; also, that cattle will 

 not eat it at any time. I believe, and I 

 said at the time, that this arose from the 

 fact that a species of Triumfetta, which 

 was plentiful in the neighbourhood, had 

 been mistaken for the Xanthium. Some 

 little attempt was made to get rid of the 

 plant, but these attempts soon ceased, and 

 I notice now that in many places it is 

 rampant. As to its poisonous properties, 

 which have been disputed, I notice in a 

 late number of the '' Pharmaceutical 

 Journal " that a paper was read, from 

 which I give a few extracts. This paper 

 is by Mr. J. S. Ward. 



" I propose to l)ring under your notice, 

 first a substitution, afterwards an adultera- 

 tion, of stramonium. The substitute was 

 offered from two different sources, with 

 samples, as cultivated stramonium ; they 

 proved identical in every respect. To 

 anyone conversant with stramonium the 

 substitution was obvious. At that time 

 very little stramonium was obtainable, 

 consequently high prices ruled. The 

 collection of medicinal plants in localities 

 where they grow wild is carried on as a 



rule by persons who are devoid of 

 botanical knowledge. When the plant 

 they search for is scarce, that which has 

 some common characteristic is chosen. 

 This is a case in point. The leaves might 

 not agree in shape and in structure, yet 

 the fruit has something to an uneducated 

 eye in common. Hence probably the 



cause of this substitution 



The adulterated stramonium was sent to 

 this country to an importer last year. 

 Luckily the admixture was immediately 

 noticed, and the whole parcel returned to 

 the sender." 



The chief adulterant in this case ap- 

 peared to be Garthamus helenoides, but 

 leaves were also found of Xantliiu n 

 strumarium, and of this plant the writer 

 says : — 



" In Ameincaand Australia this plant has 

 been observed to prove fatal to cattle and 

 pigs which have been pastured upon it. 

 It is used in some parts of Germany, and 

 has a popular reputation as a remedy for 

 ague. In Russia it is considered to be a 

 prophylactic in hydrophobia. In the 

 Punjaub and Scinde it is given in sniall- 

 pox, and in many Asiatic countries it is 

 regarded as being efficacioits in various 

 diseases, especially in malarial fever. 

 M. V. Cheatham (Amer. Jour. Pharm,, 

 1884) made some experiments with the 

 fruits with the object of isolating the 

 active principle. He does not appear to 

 have isolated it, but after treating a 

 resinous extract with acidulated water, 

 the residue produced no effect on a small 

 dog, given in 4 gramme dosss." 



In the discussion which ensued after 

 the reading of the paper, Mr. E. M. 

 Holmes, F.L.S., secretary of the Pharma- 

 ceutical Society, and a well - known 

 botanist said : - 



Some years ago a paper was published 

 by the late Dr. Bancroft, of Brisbane, on 

 the poisonous properties of Xanthium 

 fttrumarium. If my memory rightly 

 serves me, the poisonous character of 

 the plant was determined by experiments 

 made with an extract, and the poisonous 

 action on live stock could therefore not 



