4Q0 POISONS : THEIR EFFECTS AND DETECTION. [§§ 638, 639. 
XVI.—Lathyrus Sativus. 
§ 638. Various species of vetchlings, such as L. sativus, L. cicera, 
L. clymenum, are poisonous, and have caused an epidemic malady in 
parts of Spain, Africa, France, and Italy, among people who have eaten 
the seeds. The symptoms are mainly referable to the nervous system, 
causing a transverse myelitis and paraplegia. In this country it is 
chiefly known as a poisonous food for horses ; the last instance of horse¬ 
poisoning by lathyrus was that of horses belonging to the Bris.tol Tram¬ 
ways and Carriage Company. 1 The company bought some Indian peas ; 
these peas were found afterwards to consist mainly of the seeds of 
Lathyrus sativus, for out of 335 peas no fewer than 325 were the seeds 
of Lathyrus. The new peas were substituted for the beans the 
horses had been having previously on the 2nd November, and the 
horses ate them up to the 2nd December. Soon after the new food had 
been given, the horses began to stumble and fall about, not only when 
at work, but also in their stalls ; to these symptoms succeeded a paralysis 
of the larynx ; this paralysis was in some cases accompanied by a curious 
weird screaming, which once having been heard could never be forgotten ; 
there were also gasping for breath and symptoms of impending suffoca¬ 
tion. A few of the horses were saved by tracheotomy. Some died of 
suffocation ; one horse beat its brains out in its struggles for breath. 
127 horses were affected—12 died. 
The above train of symptoms has also been recorded in similar cases ; 
added to which, paralysis of the lower extremities is frequent. After 
death, atrophy of the laryngeal muscles, wasting of the nervus recurrens, 
and atrophy of the ganglion cells of the vagus nucleus, as also of the 
multipolar ganglion cells in the anterior horns of the spinal cord, have 
been found. 
The active principle of the seeds has not been satisfactorily isolated. 
The symptoms suggest the action of a toxalbumin. Teilleux found a 
resin acid ; Louis Astier a volatile alkaloid, and he explains the fact that 
the seeds, after being heated, are no longer poisonous owing to the 
dissipation of this alkaloid. 
XVII.—Arum—Bryony—Locust Tree—Male Fern. 
§ 639. Arum maculatum, the common cuckoo-pint, flowering in 
April and May, and frequent in the hedges of this country, is extremely 
poisonous. Bright red, succulent, attractive berries are seen on a single 
stalk, the rest of the plant having rotted away, and these berries are 
frequently gathered by children and eaten. The poison belongs to the 
class of acrid irritants, but its real nature remains for investigation. 
1 Bristol Tramways and Carriage Company v. Weston & Co., Times, July 17, 1894. 
