ZYGADENUS, OR DEATH CAMAS. 41 
poisonous principle of Zygadenus and thus prove valuable as a medic- 
inal remedy. This was used only in repeated doses, and the results 
will be discussed under the next head. 
REPEATED DOSES OF TANNIC ACID AND SODIUM BICARBONATE. 
Inasmuch as tannic acid is a recognized remedial agent for poison- 
ing by alkaloids, it seemed strange that so little benefit followed 
its use. In seeking for an explanation, it occurred to the writers 
that it might be accounted for by the fact that, because of the char- 
acter of a ruminant's stomachs, the remedy does not actually come in 
contact with any considerable quantity of the poisonous substance. 
The first stomach of a ruminant always contains a large quantity of 
material. When an animal feeds upon a poisonous plant, the ma- 
terial taken up goes to the first stomach; some of this, after macera- 
tion, proceeds to the third and fourth stomachs, while another part 
goes on only after rumination. If the remedy is given in the form of a 
drench, it will be distributed in all the stomachs, although ordinarily 
the larger part of the drench goes directly to the third and fourth 
stomachs. That part of the drench which goes to the fourth stomach, 
we can assume, takes effect on the alkaloid which has arrived at that 
part of the digestive canal. The portion of the drench which stops 
in the first stomach meets a mass of organic matter, in which it is 
lost; there is no reason to think that any antidote for an alkaloid 
will have any selective effect, so as to attack the Zygadenus alkaloid 
rather than the multitude of other substances in the stomach with 
which it can unite. The only hope of destroying the alkaloid under 
such circumstances would be by flooding the first stomach with the 
antidote, and that is practically impossible. So even when the anti- 
dote is introduced by a canula directly into the first stomach, it would 
be impracticable to use a quantity sufficient to produce any marked 
effect. 
On the other hand, inasmuch as no absorption takes place in the 
stomachs, if the antidote could meet the poisonous material as it 
passes through the fourth stomach good results might be expected. 
On the basis of this conclusion, it seemed best to the writers to try 
the effect of antidotes repeated at frequent intervals ; it was thought 
that if the antidote could reach the fourth stomach frequently 
enough to catch the alkaloid as it passed from the first stomach and 
render it more or less innocuous before passing into the intestine, the 
remedy might be distinctly beneficial. 
Four experiments of this character were conducted with tannic 
acid, all with controls, which received no remedy but were fed with 
the same quantity of Zygadenus. The tannic acid was given in doses 
of 1 and 2 grams, repeated at intervals varying from 10 to 30 min- 
utes, or longer in some cases, at the latter part of the experiment. 
