100 



Dr. S. Martin. The Toxic Action of the [May 16, 



1. That the poisonous principle of the seeds of Abrus precatorius 

 (jequirity) is a globulin.* 



2. That the activity of this globulin is destroyed by heating its 

 solution to 75° or 80° C, the temperature at which it coagulates. 



3. That this globulin produces a remarkable fall of body tempera- 

 ture after subcutaneous injection. 



4. That it causes rapidity of breathing shortly before death. 



5. That the other actions ascribable to the globulin are : the pro- 

 duction of local oedema and inflammation when subcutaneously 

 injected or applied to the eye, the presence, post-mortem, of petechia? 

 beneath the serous membrane, and the occurrence of hemorrhagic 

 gastro-enteritis. 



III. " The Toxic Action of the Albumose from the Seeds of 

 Abrus precatorius." By SIDNEY MARTIN", M.D. Lond., British 

 Medical Association Research Scholar, Assistant Physician 

 to the Victoria Park Chest Hospital. (From the Physiological 

 Laboratory, University College. London.) Communicated 

 by E. A. Schafer, F.R.S. Received May 8, 1889. 



An account, by Dr. Wolfenden and myself, of the physiological 

 action of the globulin which I extracted from the seeds of the 

 jequirity plant, has been presented the Royal Society. I have shownf 

 that there are two proteids present in the seeds ; a globulin and an 

 albumose. The present paper deals with the physiological action of 

 the albumose. 



Dr. Wolfenden and I showed in the paper referred to that the 

 globulin possessed the poisonous qualities of the watery extract of 

 the seeds and of the body called " abrin," described by Drs. Warden 

 and Waddell. After being obtained in the pure state, it produced 

 severe conjunctivitis when applied to the eye, and when subcuta- 

 neously injected it caused local oedema and ecchymosis, followed by 

 death with the signs and symptoms of gastro-intestinal irritation and 

 inflammation. It moreover lowered the body- temperature of the 

 pigeon in a remarkable manner. From the method used by Drs. 

 Warden and Waddell in preparing their " abrin," both proteids 

 would be obtained, since they used a watery extract and precipitated 

 the proteids with alcohol. Abrin would, therefore, be a mixture of 

 globulin and albumose. As Dr. Wolfenden and I had found that the 



* An account of the physiological action of the albumose of abrus-seeds has 

 been presented to the Royal Society by one of us (M.) . — May 10, 1889. 

 f 4 Koy. Soc. Proc.,' vol. 42, p. 331. 



