566  Chemical  Examination  of  Nutmeg.     { December Pi908m' 
tion  of  its  poisonous  constituent,  the  results  having  been  published 
in  1903  in  "  Contributions  to  Medical  Research,"  dedicated  to  V.  C. 
Vaughan,  Ann  Arbor,  Michigan.  For  the  purpose  of  completeness 
it  is  desirable  that  the  following  brief  abstract  of  the  recent  paper 
by  Cushny  should  be  included  in  this  account  of  the  subject. 
"  The  nutmeg  contains  from  3  to  8  per  cent,  of  volatile  oil,  and 
when  this  has  been  extracted  from  it  the  residue  produces  no  effect 
whatever  on  animals,  while  small  doses  of  the  oil  itself  induce  char- 
acteristic effects.  The  oil  contains  several  terpenes  and  small  quan- 
tities of  higher  boiling  substances  which  can  be  separated  by  frac- 
tional distillation.1  The  terpenes  are  devoid  of  action  except  in 
enormous  quantities,  while  the  fraction  boiling  at  1500  C.  at  14  mm. 
pressure  2  proved  to  be  a  powerful  poison." 
Wallace  conducted  experiments  with  the  high-boiling  fraction  of 
the  oil  on  frogs,  rabbits,  and  cats,  and  the  following  observations 
and  conclusions  drawn  therefrom  are  further  noted  by  Cushny,  as 
follows : 
"  The  cat  is  much  more  susceptible  to  the  action  than  the  rabbit, 
as  is  very  generally  the  case  with  drugs  acting  on  the  central  nervous 
system.  About  0.4  gramme  per  kilo  of  the  highest  distillate  given 
per  os  causes  restlessness  with  weak  spasmodic  movements  and 
tremor  resembling  that  seen  in  carbolic  acid  poisoning,  and  profuse 
salivation.  The  restlessness  passes  into  quiet  with  persistence  of 
the  tremor,  incoordination  of  the  movements,  weak  reflexes  and 
partial  anaesthesia.  The  pupils  are  dilated.  Soon  a  stage  of  stupor, 
gradually  deepening,  sets  in,  the  respiration  is  labored  and  feeble, 
and  finally  ceases  some  eight  to  twelve  hours  after  the  ingestion  of 
the  poison.  In  many  cases,  however,  after  some  hours  of  stupor,  a 
gradual  improvement  begins,  and  in  fifteen  hours  from  the  taking 
of  the  poison  the  animal  appears  fairly  normal  save  for  unusual 
quietness  and  disinclination  to  move  about.  This  improvement  is 
only  temporary,  however,  the  cat  again  becoming  weaker  and  more 
depressed,  eating  nothing  and  paying  no  attention  to  its  surround- 
ings, until  coma  returns,  followed  by  death  in  36-72  hours  from 
the  time  the  oil  was  taken." 
"  The  symptoms  in  mammalia  are  thus,  as  in  the  frog,4o  be  attrib- 
uted to  action  on  the  central  nervous  system,  which  is  depressed 
1  Compare  Power  and  Salway.    Journ.  Chem.  Soc,  1907,  91,  pp.  2037-2058. 
2  According  to  the  results  of  our  investigation  of  the  essential  oil  of  nutmeg 
(loc.  cit.),  this  fraction  would  consist  chiefly  of  myristicin. 
