ADweXrPi9aosm' }     Chemical  Examination  of  Nutmeg.  565 
nutmeg  is  very  variable  in  character,  and  that  some  specimens  may 
be  practically  free  from  myristicin,  or  even  consist  entirely  of 
terpenes  (compare  Ber.  d.  deutsch.  chem.  Ges.,  1890,  23,  p.  1804). 
The  experiments  of  Jiirss  on  birds  and  mammals  were  conducted 
by  the  subcutaneous  injection  of  myristicin,  in  amounts  varying 
from  2  c.c.  to  6  c.c.  per  kilo  of  bodyweight  in  the  case  of  guinea 
pigs,  or  0.9  c.c.  to  1.76  c.c.  per  kilo  of  bodyweight  in  the  case  of 
rabbits.  The  effects  were  manifested  by  a  paralysis  of  the  central 
nervous  system,  with  a  reduction  of  temperature,  followed  by  death 
without  convulsions.  A  post-mortem  examination  of  the  animals 
showed,  among  other  phenomena,  extensive  degenerative  changes 
in  the  liver,  such  as  coagulative  necroses,  vacuolation  of  the  pro- 
toplasm, and  the  abundant  presence  of  fat,  resembling  the  effects  of 
phosphorus  poisoning. 
Although  the  above-noted  experiments  afford  ample  evidence  that 
myristicin  is  a  substance  possessing  a  considerable  degree  of  physio- 
logical activity,  it  is  also  evident  that  the  results  are  hardly  com- 
parable with  the  symptoms  produced  in  man  by  the  administration  of 
relatively  small  amounts  of  nutmeg.  If,  for  example,  two  nutmegs, 
an  amount  which  is  known  to  be  capable  of  producing  serious  effects 
in  man,  be  considered  as  weighing  10  grammes,  they  would  contain 
on  an  average  not  more  than  about  1.0  gramme  of  essential  oil,  of 
which  a  very  small  proportion  is  myristicin.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  toxic  effects  produced  in  guinea  pigs  weighing  500  grammes 
and  in  rabbits  weighing  from  1300  to  2200  grammes  respectively 
were  obtained  by  the  subcutaneous  injection  of  myristicin  in  amounts 
many  times  greater  than  are  contained  in  two  nutmegs,  and  even 
considerably  exceeding  the  total  amount  of  essential  oil  contained  in 
the  latter  (compare  also  Semi-annual  Report  of  Schimmel  &  Co., 
Leipzig,  Oct.,  1904,  p.  103).  From  a  consideration  of  these  facts, 
it  appeared  possible  that  the  narcotic  effects  produced  in  man  by  the 
nutmeg  might  not  be  due  solely  to  the  essential  oil  or  the  myristicin 
contained  therein,  and  it  was,  therefore,  with  the  object  of  elucidating 
this  question  that  a  complete  study  of  the  constituents  of  the 
nutmeg  was  undertaken. 
Some  considerable  time  after  beginning  this  investigation  a  paper 
was  published  by  Dr.  A.  R.  Cushny  (loc.  cit.)  on  the  subject  of 
"  nutmeg  poisoning."  It  was  noted  in  this  communication  that 
some  years  ago  Dr.  G.  B.  Wallace  had  undertaken  an  examination 
of  the  pharmacological  action  of  nutmeg  on  animals  and  the  separa- 
