578  Chemical  Examination  of  Nutmeg.  {^eceSLe^iSS11" 
tion  of  the  liver.  In  another  case,  in  which  10  grammes  of  nutmeg 
were  given,  no  effect  except  slight  malaise  and  some  salivation  could 
be  observed  until  the  third  day  after  administration,  when  the  cat 
was  found  in  a  state  of  very  deep  coma,  and  shortly  afterward 
died.  Another  cat,  to  which  5  grammes  of  nutmeg  were  given, 
died  on  the  morning  of  the  fourth  day  after  administration.  The 
liver  again  showed  marked  fatty  degeneration,  and  the  urine  con- 
tained much  bile  and  a  little  albumin.  The  kidneys  were  not  notice- 
ably abnormal. 
In  connection  with  the  above  results  it  may  be  noted  that  the  dog 
appears  to  be  comparatively  insensitive  to  the  toxic  action  of  nutmeg, 
since  doses  amounting  to  as  much  as  20  grammes  of  the  substance, 
and  even  10  c.c.  of  myristicin,  have  been  given  by  the  mouth  to  this 
animal  without  any  perceptible  effect.  Injections  of  the  essential 
oil  and  of  myristicin  intravenously  did,  indeed,  cause  acute  symptoms 
of  incoordination  and,  in  some  instances,  complete  unconsciousness ; 
but  the  value  of  such  observations  is  seriously  diminished  by  the 
consideration  that  the  insoluble  oil  will  produce  multiple  emboli, 
certainly  in  the  lungs,  and  possibly  also  in  the  cerebral  capillaries, 
insofar  as  it  passes  into  the  lungs  and  gets  into  the  general  circu- 
lation. Pulmonary  hemorrhage  was  actually  the  cause  of  death  in 
these  cases. 
With  regard  to  the  action  of  myristicin,  C1:1H12CX,  the  high-boil- 
ing constituent  of  the  essential  oil  of  nutmeg,  to  which,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  observations  of  Wallace,  the  narcotic  effects  produced 
by  nutmeg  are  attributed  by  Cushny,  as  also  independently  by  Jurss 
(loc.  cit.),  the  following  experiments  may  be  noted. 
Quantities  of  myristicin  which  were  appreciably  greater  than  the 
amount  of  this  substance  contained  in  a  toxic  dose  of  nutmeg,  for 
example,  0.1  to  0.2  c.c,  when  given  by  the  mouth  to  a  cat,  produced 
no  apparent  effect.  A  dose  of  1  c.c.  of  myristicin,  however,  produced 
results  which  were  not  dissimilar  to  those  produced  by  5  to  10 
grammes  of  nutmeg.  Thus  a  cat  to  which  1  c.c.  of  myristicin  was 
given  by  the  mouth  survived  without  marked  symptoms  until  the 
third  day  after  administration,  when  it  was  found  lying  in  a  semi- 
conscious condition.  The  fatty  degeneration  of  the  liver,  and  stain- 
ing of  the  urine  and  all  the  tissues  with  bile  pigment,  were  the  only 
noticeable  abnormalities  post  mortem.  Another  cat,  to  which  an 
equal  dose  was  given,  survived  until  the  seventh  day  after  adminis- 
tration, but  the  changes  observed  post  mortem  were  similar  in 
character  to  those  above  described. 
