76 Journal of Agricultural Research voi. xxm, no. 2 
As with Bikukulla cucullaria it has not been possible as yet to give 
the alkaloids of B. canadensis a complete survey. It seems highly prob¬ 
able that the latter plant contains cucullarine, as the physiological 
effects produced on mice by the raw alkaloids of both plants are so sim¬ 
ilar. If present in B. canadensis it undoubtedly must be there in very 
minute quantity, as the toxicity of B. cucullaria is so much greater. 
This may account for the failure so far to isolate it. However, a crys¬ 
talline alkaloid from the roots of B. canadensis has been prepared. 
The material was percolated with 95 per cent alcohol, plus acetic acid, 
and the solution was treated in the usual way. By extracting this prepar¬ 
ation with ether which contained a small quantity of alcohol a bright 
yellow compound was obtained, crystallizing in bundles of silky needles. 
It has a melting point of 210° C. and gave reactions with the customary 
alkaloid reagents and a crystalline precipitate with picric acid. It 
proved to be nontoxic when injected into a mouse. A dose of 0.6 mgm. 
caused the animal no apparent inconvenience. 
It is proposed to make a further study of the alkaloids of Bikukulla 
cucullaria, B. canadensis and B. eximia in more detail with larger quanti¬ 
ties of material. 
FEEDING EXPERIMENTS 
Feeding experiments with both Bikukulla cucullaria and B. canadensis 
were made by the representative of the Virginia Agricultural Experi¬ 
ment Station on. a farm near Merriam, Bland County. The material 
used was collected on this farm and fed in a fresh condition. The ani¬ 
mals used were healthy yearling steers, weighing approximately 275 
pounds each. 
At first these plants only were fed, but the animals ate of them so 
sparingly that it was found necessary to mix them with grass before they 
were taken freely. Account was kept of the weight of the grass and of the 
plants fed to each animal and of the portion which remained uneaten, 
from which the approximate weight of the suspected plants eaten was 
calculated. A detailed account of the experiments follows. 
STEER 2.—The whole plant of Bikukulla cucullaria was given this 
animal. Feeding was begun at 2 p. m., April 19, 1921, but on that day 
only y 2 pound of the plant was eaten; April 20,3^ pounds were consumed 
between 7.30 a. m. and 5 p. m., without noticeable effects. Feeding was 
resumed at 5.15 p. m.; and at 5.30, when the animal had eaten about an¬ 
other pound of the plants, symptoms of poisoning were first exhibited. 
He suddenly began to tremble, ran backward then forward several times 
with the head held very high. He was frothing at the mouth and several 
times ejected partly digested stomach contents a distance of several feet. 
The trembling which occurred all over the body became more violent, 
convulsions ensued, and at 5.40, 10 minutes after the first seizure, he fell 
and was unable to rise. He lay upon the left side, with the head thrown 
back as in opisthotonos, and with the legs extended and rigid. He 
moaned as though in great pain, the eyes were glassy, breathing was very 
difficult, and the bowels were lax. About 5.50 relaxation began; the 
animal struggled but was unable to rise until 6.10, when he got up; and 
although very weak and nervous he was able to walk about. From this 
time his condition improved rapidly, and, when no other symptoms of 
poisoning appeared, he was returned to the pasture at noon, April 21. 
STEER 5.—The bulbs alone of Bikukulla cucullaria were fed to this 
animal. Feeding was begun at 2 p. m., April 19, but practically none of 
