POISONOUS AMPHIBIA. 
493 
§§ 644-646.] 
(C 20 H 31 NO) 2 + H 2 SO 4 , was obtained by Faust, the sulphate of which is 
less soluble than fchat of samandarin ; to this he gives the name of 
Samandaridin sulphate. It is optically inactive. The crystals are in 
the form of rhombic plates or tables. There is more samandaridin to 
be obtained from the salamander than samandarin, the proportion being 
about 2 to 1. On dry distillation with zinc dust an alkaline distillate 
is obtained, from which Faust isolated isochinolin ; the same author 
states that the more volatile constituents of the decomposition give the 
reactions of pyrrol. With regard to the chemical relationship between 
the two alkaloids, Faust suggests that samandarin possesses one more 
methyl-pyridin group, C 5 H 6 (CH 3 )N, than samandaridin. 
§ 644. Poisoning by the samandarins produces symptoms strikingly 
similar to those of rabies, in all its three stages—viz. the excitable stage, 
with exaltation of the reflexes, restlessness, acceleration of the respira¬ 
tion, dilatation of the pupil, and increase of the nasal and buccal 
secretions; next, the convulsive stage, with catching respiration, dyspnoea, 
and convulsions ; and, lastly, the paralytic stage ending in death, the 
cause of death usually being paralysis of the respiratory centre. 
Like rabies also, when once the characteristic symptoms develop, no 
case of recovery (in animals) is known—death sooner or later supervenes. 
The fatal dose is surprisingly small—subcutaneous injections of 0-7 
mgrm. to 0-9 mgrm. samandarin per kilo, of body weight are fatal, 
according to Faust, to dogs ; but with regard to samandaridin, this 
substance is eight times weaker, and therefore the fatal dose is about 
6 to 7 mgrms. per kilo. 
§ 645. The Water Salamander ( Triton cristatus). —Yulpino (1856) 
and Capparelli (1883) have, to a certain extent, investigated a thick 
creamy-looking secretion in the skin glands of the water salamander. 
Capparelli obtained 40 grms. of the secretion from three hundred Tritons. 
The secretion was acid ; the active constituent could be extracted from 
the acid solution by ether, was nitrogen-free and volatile at the ordinary 
temperature. The Triton poison has a haemolytic action on the red blood 
corpuscles—increases the blood pressure and paralyses ultimately the 
heart; its action on the circulation agrees generally with that of 
bufotalin, to which it may be chemically allied. 
§ 646. Poisons of the Toad ( Bufo vulgaris). —The toad secretes a 
poison from its skin which has received considerable attention, and has 
been investigated by Fornara (1817), Calmels (1884), Heuser (1902), 
E. S. Faust, and others. 
Faust 1 was successful in obtaining two very definite substances—the 
one crystalline, Bufonin (C 34 H 54 0 2 ) ; the other amorphous, Bufotalin 
(C 34 H 46 Oio). 
Bufonin crystallises out of an alcoholic extract of the toad’s skin in 
1 Die thierischen Gifte, Braunschweig, 1906. 
