Pharmaceutical Society of London. 
313 
raw by clogs; but when cooked, either by boiling or roasting, it 
ceases to be poisonous. 
A very small quantity of the plant is sufficient to kill a sheep. 
A bullock requires more, in proportion to its greater strength. 
Horses, so far as is known, are not affected by it: at least this 
is the prevailing opinion, although it is disputed by some of the 
settlers. 
Soon after a sheep has eaten of the plant, it assumes a wild 
appearance, holds its head high up, stares about it, then runs 
round in a circle, and drops down dead, foaming at the mouth. 
Horned cattle, after eating it, have a dull appearance, with a 
languid eye. They appear to be in much pain, and lay down 
and die. 
Copious bleeding, with strong doses of castor oil and Epsom 
salts, have effected cures in some cases. 
With sheep the best treatment has been found to be, to fold 
them, or shut them up in a close yard, so closely packed, that 
they can hardly move, and to keep them thus, without food, for 
thirty-six hours. 
Report of Experiments made to ascertain the action of the fore¬ 
going Poisonous Plant. By Dr. Algernon Frampton. 
I ascertained, in the first place, that the leaves contain a 
volatile principle; for having added some water and distilled, I 
obtained a colourless liquid having a strong nauseous odour, 
somewhat resembling that of senna, as it seemed to me, and 
possessing a faint fatty sickly taste; but although I distilled the 
same liquid two or three times from successive fresh portions of 
the leaves, I neither succeeded in separating any volatile oil, nor 
in obtaining it in a state of sufficient concentration to produce 
any effect upon the rabbits to which it was administered. I look 
upon this, however, as merely a negative result, and think it 
possible that this plant, like tobacco, may contain a poison of a 
volatile as well as one of an opposite nature. 
A decoction of half an ounce of leaves was made and evapo¬ 
rated in a water-bath to about five drachms. This extract was 
quite fluid, of a dark-green colour, of a somewhat bitter and 
VOL. III. NO. IV. 
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