RED-SQUILL POWDERS AS RATICIDES 
21 
In the 1924 experiments, the minimum lethal dose to white rats of the 
powders made simultaneously from two individual bulbs was found 
to be 250 and 3,000 milligrams per kilo of body weight. In the 1925 
experiments six powders were made at the same time, and dried in the 
same oven at 80° C. simultaneously. Each powder was made from 
a single bulb, three from large bulbs (weighing around 750 to 1,000 
grams each), and three from small bulbs (weighing around 200 grams 
each). The lethal doses to white rats were found to be 500, 500, and 
2,500 milligrams per kilo of body weight for the powders from the 
large bulbs, and 250, 250, and over 5,000 milligrams per kilo of body 
weight for powders made from the small bulbs. No characteristic 
differences in the appearance of the bulbs or powders were apparent. 
A sample of red-squill bulbs from Sardinia was found somewhat 
more toxic than one grow^n in Sicily during the same year. 
Powders were prepared from composites of various portions of squill 
bulbs to see if material differences in toxicity could be found. The 
minimum lethal dose to white rats of the powder from the outer dry 
husks and scales was over 3,000 milligrams per kilo of body weight, 
that of the middle fleshy scales was 500 and 750 milligrams per kilo 
of body weight, and that of the central core was 1,000 and over 3,000 
milligrams per kilo of body weight. 
The readily available outer dry husks were stripped from aU bulbs 
before the bulbs were sliced, in the preparation of squill powders. 
Although the core was less toxic than the middle fleshy scales, it 
constituted so small a portion of the bulb that it was not deemed 
necessary to remove it. 
It was concluded that powders should be made from composites of 
a number of bulbs, and that the outer dry husks should be rejected. 
EFFECT OF INTENSITY OF COLOR OF SQUILL BULBS ON TOXICITY 
The color of the middle, fleshy scales of squill varies in intensity 
from a light whitish pink to a deep mahogany. A sackful of bulbs 
was arbitrarily divided into four color groups, and powders were 
prepared from six bulb composites of each group by tw^o methods: 
(1) One portion of the chopped composite was directly oven-dried 
at 80° C. for 45 hours to constant weight; (2) the remainer of the 
chopped composite was exposed to the air for 46 hours at room tem- 
perature (25° C.) and then dried in the electric oven at 80° C. for 
93 hours to constant weight. The quantities of bulbs in each color 
class, and the minimum lethal doses to white rats are given in Table 9. 
Table 9. — Effect of intensity of color of squill hulbs on toxicity 
Sample No. 
Color of bulbs 
Quantity of bulbs 
Minimum lethal 
dose of powder 
made by- 
Method 1 
Method 2 
Mg. per 
kgm. of 
Mg. per 
kgm. of 
body 
weight 
250 
400 
500 
350 
P. C. 720. 
Whitish pink 
Kgm. 
3.0 
9.0 
Per cent 
3.9 
body 
weight 
250 
350 
1,000+ 
500+ 
P. C. 721. 
Pink red 
11.7 
45.6 
38.8 
P. C. 723 
Nearly red 
35.0 
29.8 
P. C. 722... 
Deep red 
