564  Chemical  Examination  of  Nutmeg.     { ADe'JmbeVPi908m' 
Mahometan  physicians  have  been  confirmed  by  Bontius,  Rumphius, 
Lobel,  Schmid,  and  Cullen,  and  more  recent  experiments  upon  man 
and  animals  agree  in  showing  that  they  have  a  narcotic  and  intoxi- 
cating action.  In  a  case  related  by  Cullen,  two  drachms  of  powdered 
nutmeg  produced  drowsiness,  which  gradually  increased  to  complete 
stupor  and  insensibility.  The  patient  continued  for  several  hours 
alternately  delirious  and  sleeping,  but  ultimately  recovered." 
The  above  general  statements  concerning  the  narcotic  action  of  nut- 
meg are  fully  confirmed  by  the  numerous  cases  of  "  nutmeg  poison- 
ing "  which  have  been  recorded  in  the  medical  literature  of  more 
recent  times,  among  which  the  following  few  references  may  be  cited  : 
The  Lancet,  April  12,  1902,  p.  1035;  Squibb's  Ephemeris  of  Materia 
Medica,  etc.,  Vol.  VII,  1904,  p.  243;  The  British  Medical  Journal, 
1906,  pp.  539,  778,  900,  984;  Chem.  Zeit.  Rep.,  Feb.  12,  1908,  p.  79, 
from  Deutsch.  med.  Wochenschrift,  1907,  Bd.  33,  p.  2001;  Cushny, 
in  Proceedings  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Medicine,  Therapeutical  and 
Pharmacological  Section,  1908,  Vol.  I,  pp.  39-44. 
With  regard  to  the  constituent  of  the  nutmeg  to  which  its  nar- 
cotic effects  may  be  attributed,  the  following  statement  in  the 
"  United  States  Dispensatory,"  nineteenth  edition,  p.  799,  is  of 
interest :  "  Dr.  H.  C.  Wood  found  in  experiments  upon  the  lower 
animals  that  the  oil  of  nutmeg  is  a  powerful  narcotic,  with  very 
much  less  sedative  influence  upon  the  heart  than  is  possessed  by 
most  volatile  oils.  Injected  into  the  circulation  of  the  dog,  it  caused 
profound  sleep,  with  slowing  of  the  respiration,  and,  if  the  dose 
had  been  large  enough,  loss  of  reflex  activity." 
In  the  Bericht  of  Schimmel  &  Co.,  Leipzig,  April,  1904,  pp.  159- 
165,  special  consideration  was  given  to  the  subject  of  nutmeg 
poisoning  by  a  contribution  from  Dr.  Fritz  Jurss,  Assistant  at  the 
Pharmacological  Institute  of  the  University  of  Rostock,  entitled: 
*'  On  Myristicin  and  some  closely  related  substances."  This  com- 
prised an  account  of  the  action  of  myristicin,  C^H^Og,  a  constituent 
of  the  essential  oil  of  nutmeg,  on  frogs,  fish,  birds,  and  mammals, 
especially  the  guinea  pig  and  rabbit.  It  was  noted  by  this  investiga- 
tor (loc.  cit.,  p.  159)  that  "  the  oils  of  nutmeg  and  mace  only  cause 
fatal  poisoning  in  a  rabbit  in  doses  of  10.0  to  12.0  grammes,  whereas 
a  single  nutmeg  (4.0  to  5.0  grammes)  is  capable  of  producing  in 
man  serious  effects,"  and  the  conclusion  was  therefore  drawn  that 
the  oil  is  less  poisonous  for  animals  than  for  man.  It  should  be 
considered,  however,  in  this  connection  that  the  essential  oil  of 
