THE V/HOKLED MILKWEED AS A POISONOUS PLANT. 23 
Fifty grams were extracted in a Soxhlet apparatus with various 
solvents in succession : 
Grams. Per cent. 
Petroleum ether extracted 2. 461 4. 92 
Benzol 1. 293 2. 58 
Ether 0.274 0.54 
Chloroform 0. 636 1. 27 
Acetone 1.369 2.i 73 
Alcohol 5. 460 10. 92 
Total 22.96 
Each of these fractions was tested upon guinea pigs. The petro- 
leum ether, acetone, and alcohol extracts were nontoxic; the benzol 
fraction produced the characteristic spasmodic type of intoxication 
observed on the range, and the autopsy exhibited the typical patho- 
logic picture. The chloroform and ether extracts were toxic, pro- 
ducing narcosis. 
Alkaloids. — Twenty-five grams of fresh plant were cut into small 
pieces and macerated for 24 hours in excess of 1 per cent hydro- 
chloric acid. The yellowish extract, after filtration, reacted with 
the ordinary alkaloidal reagents, giving evidence of a minute quan- 
tity of basic substance. The base was not precipitated from' its aque- 
ous solutions by potassium hydroxid or ammonia. 
Volatile poisons. — A total of 912 grams of the dried leaves and 
blossoms of Asclepias galioides collected at Paonia, Colo., in July, 
1918, was mixed with 45 grams of barium hydroxid and 15 liters of 
water and allowed to stand overnight. The following morning the 
solution was tested and found to be alkaline to litmus. The mass was 
then distilled. This irregular procedure was necessary because the 
experiment was made in the field under conditions which did not per- 
mit of the most refined manipulation. There were obtained 2,400 mils 
of distillate, with an odor of tea. This was not alkaline and gave no 
pricipitate with Mayer's solution in the presence of hydrochloric 
acid. On standing, a minute quantity of oil collected on the surface. 
One thousand two hundred mils of this distillate, representing the 
volatile constituents of 456 grams of dried leaves and blossoms, were 
drenched into Sheep 491, weighing 130 pounds, without producing 
any effect. 
Saponins. — Four hundred grams (about 20 toxic doses) of dried and 
ground Asclepias from Hotchkiss, Colo., were mixed with 4 liters of 
alcohol, allowed to stand 24 hours, and heated to boiling. The mass 
was maintained at the boiling temperature for an hour and then was 
filtered hot. The filtrate was a bright, full green. On cooling and 
standing, a small quantity of green waxy material separated, which 
was collected on a filter and washed with alcohol. It was insoluble 
in water and cold alcohol, was completely soluble in chloroform, and 
