242 DISEASES OF THE DIGESTIVE APPABATUS. 



lupinosis, and, on the other hand, this affection has never been 

 seen on some farms where the lupin has been cultivated for many- 

 years. ^ 



2. It has been asserted that lupinosis was produced by very fine 

 toxic dust deposited upon the lupin; but Dammann (1876) has 

 demonstrated the worthlessness of this theory. 



3. Veterinarians supposed that under the influence of exclusive 

 lupin-alimentation there was formed an excess of albuminoid matters 

 in the blood, causiug the manifestations of lupinosis. This doctrine, 

 like the preceding, is not upheld by a close examination of facts. 

 Sometimes but very small quantities of lupin are required to cause 

 the disease, and it has been observed on several farms that certain 

 portions of the field produce exclusively hurtful lupins, while those 

 harvested in other places are altogether harmless. 



4. The toxic action of lupins was attributed to fungi (Ziirn). 

 But this theory again is in opposition to the facts. It has against 

 it, first, the absence of fungi in the anatomical alterations found at 

 the autopsy of animals that have succumbed to lupinosis. On the 

 other hand, it has been demonstrated by experience that lupins 

 covered with mould and partially decomposed often remain quite 

 innocuous, while plants which seem to be perfectly sound produce 

 lupinosis. Moreover, it has been found that the upper layers of 

 lupin kept in stacks in the open air are harmless, while the lower 

 layers were found to be toxic— a fact which does not point in favor 

 of the fungous nature of the affection. Finally, attempted transmis- 

 sion of lupinosis by inoculation has not succeeded. The harm- 

 ful principle of lupins may be extracted with a solution of soda 

 (2-3 per cent.), and the extract thus obtained does not contain any 

 fungi. In Lemke's and Arnold's experience, the toxic lupins caused 

 lupinosis after having been in rectified alcohol during four weeks ; 

 the ingestion of the alcoholic extract did not produce any morbid 

 phenomena. If there were really any pathogenic fungi, the alcohol 

 must have killed them. 



5. The theory attributing lupinosis to the action of the alkaloids 

 of the lupin has decided experimental facts against it. The re- 

 searches of Briimmer and Krocker ^ have demonstrated that the 

 toxic lupins frequently contain fewer alkaloids than the inoffensive 

 ones. On the other hand, Liebscher has established that the ana- 

 tomical symptoms and alterations in lupinosis differ essentially 



1 Briimmer and Krocker : Landwirthschaftl. Jahrbiich, 1880. 



