Apr. 12,1924 
Toxicity of Cottonseed and Its Gossypol Content 177 
The results of the intraperitoneal tests are given in Table IV. With a few 
exceptions, the percentage of gossypol dissolved in oil was 0.45 per cent. The 
minimum lethal dose is about 20 mgm. and the largest survived dose is about 50 
mgm. 5 Smaller rats seem to require larger doses than larger animals. Indi¬ 
vidual differences in susceptibility to cottonseed poisoning between animals of 
the same age have been observed by other investigators. An effort was made 
to eliminate these as far as possible in the rat studies by using only animals 
that had been reared in the laboratory under standard conditions. Deaths from 
the smaller doses are delayed and to a great extent give the impression that the 
effect of starvation is superimposed upon an intoxication factor. Although 45 
to 50 mgm. per kilo may be regarded as the practically certain fatal dose, all 
deaths did not occur within 24 hours as they did when larger doses were ad¬ 
ministered. 
Tests with the ether extract of Egyptian cottonseed kernels indicate that 
these kernels are as toxic as the gossypol content determined by analysis would 
show them to be. The results in this case are even more uniform than those in 
the tests in which pure gossypol was used. 
Tests with the ether extract of Durango cottonseed kernels also indicate that 
these kernels are as toxic as the gossypol content determined by analysis would 
show them to be. At the time these experiments were made, the gossypol con¬ 
tent of the extract was underestimated by about 10 per cent. This explains 
why the dosage reported is slightly larger than in the case of the Egyptian seed 
extract. 
Table IV.— Toxicity to rats of gossypol aftd of volumetric solutions of ether extracts 
of cottonseed of which the gossypol content has been estimated (oil solution 
infected intraperitoneally) 
GOSSYPOL 
Num¬ 
ber 
of 
rats 
Weight 
Dose of 
gossypol 
(calcu¬ 
lated) 
First 
day 
Sec¬ 
ond 
day 
I 
Third 
day 
i'atalitie 
Fourth 
day 
•S 
Fifth 
day 
Sixth 
day 
Total 
Sur¬ 
vived 
Remarks 
Mqm. per 
Om. 
Kilo 
4. 
241-278 
10-17 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
4 
1 . 
244 
18.5-20 
0 
1 
0 
0 
0 
0 
1 
1 
52 ... 
100-215 
18 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
5 
42 . . 
177-205 
18 
0 
0 
3 
3 
1 
All pregnant. 
Bf ... 
131-202 
22.5 
0 
0 
1 
0 
0 
3 
4 
1 
All refused food. 
2 . 
181-265 
25-30 
0 
2 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
2 
One pregnant. 
5c? 
125-175 
31. 5 
0 
2 
3 
5 
0 
3. 
198-254 
33-35 
0 
2 
0 
0 
6 
0 
2 
1 
3. 
70-80 
36 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
, 0 
0 
3 
Killed on 12th day. 
5<f 
146-177 
45 
2 
2 
1 
5 
0 
2 . 
68-78 
45 
0 
0 
0 
1 
1 
2 
0 
2 . .. 
159-187 
45-49 
1 
1 
2 
0 
1 . 
189 
49 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
1 
7 
64-195 
55-90 
7 
7 
0 
EGYPTIAN COTTONSEED 
5c? — 
135-165 
18 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
5 
One dead on 9th day. 
5c?_ 
145-177 
45 
5 
5 
0 
4 died within 16 hours. . 
fi Experience with this intraperitoneal fixed-oil method, using a large number of fat-soluble dyes, also 
reveals a variation in the toxicity of individual substances. This must be controlled by using a sufficient 
number of animals and making comparisons of the toxicity ranges obtained. 
