LARKSPUK POISONING OF LIVE STOCK. 9 
obtained by the various authors who have investigated the physio- 
logical action of delphinin have been somewhat contradictory, 
although the principal symptoms obtained in poisoned animals seem 
to be quite constant. The cause of some of the discrepancies is 
probably due to the fact that all the preparations of delphinin used 
in the various experiments have not been identical. A large variety 
of animals have been used in the physiological experimentation, in- 
cluding mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish, although 
most of the experiments were performed on frogs and dogs. 
Orfila in 1817 gives the following summary of conclusions : 
First. That stavesacre is not absorbed, and that its deleterious properties de- 
pend on the local irritation it produces and the sympathetic lesion of the 
nervous system. 
Second. That the part soluble in water is most active ; so likewise the local 
effects of its administration are more severe when it is moistened before being 
applied to the cellular texture. 
In 1813 he obtained the following s}miptoms with delphinin in 
dogs : For about two hours, nausea and attempts to vomit ; then great 
agitation for some minutes, the dog soon becoming weak and finally 
lying motionless on its side; slight convulsive movements of the 
muscles of the legs and lower jaw, followed by death after two or 
three hours. The organs of sight and hearing remained normal until 
death. The autopsy showed the mucous membrane of the stomach 
to be slightly inflamed; the left ventricle contained dark-colored 
blood, and the lungs were more solid than normal. 
Falck and Eorig in 1851 obtained in cats and dogs vomiting, ex- 
cessive salivation, diarrhea, uneasiness, staggering gait, convulsions, 
difficult breathing, followed by death from asphyxiation and heart 
paralysis. The autopsies showed congestion of the mucous mem- 
branes which had come in contact with the poison, the heart and 
great veins gorged with blood, and the lungs covered with ecchymotic 
spots. Later authors do not vary much in regard to the general 
symptoms. Van Praag and Turnbull note in addition a diuretic 
effect. 
Cayrade, 1869, states his conclusions as follows : 
1. The delphinin acts upon the spinal cord, causing depression and making 
it lose its excito-motor power. 
2. The effects are gradual and are felt from below upward, the reflex power 
being lost progressively, first in the lower limbs, then -in the upper limbs, and, 
finally, in the head. 
3. The voluntary movements continue after the loss of the reflex movements 
and become incoordinate before their disappearance. 
4. The facts observed in the study of normal reflex movements and during 
the poisoning of the cord by delphinin justify the belief that the nerve cells 
of the gray matter may lose their power of direct reaction and yet permit the 
passage of the reflex current. 
