410 
Poisonous  Plants. 
/  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\     August,  1889. 
Larnberti,  Pursh,  were  those  to  which  were  originally  assigned  the 
name  and  poisonous  properties  of  loco  weeds. 
The  author  adds  three  new  species  Leucocrinum,  Fritillaria  and 
Zygadenus  to  the  list  of  loco  weeds.  We  are  not  surprised  that 
these  three  liliaceous  plants,  the  last-named  being  botanically  closely 
related  to  Veratruni,  should  have  a  poisonous  action  when  eaten  by 
cattle,  and  it  seems  not  unlikely  that  the  eating  of  these  plants  by 
cattle  in  other  localities  may  have  escaped  notice.  It  seems  not  im- 
probable that  this  action  has  been  erroneously  credited  to  the  milder 
leguminous  plants. 
The  poisonous  character  of  the  plants  of  the  genus  Zygadenus  has 
long  been  recognized.  J.  U.  and  C.  G.  Lloyd,  some  two  years  ago, 
called  attention  to  the  extremely  poisonous  character  of  Zygadenus 
Nuttallii,  Gray1,  stating  "that  specimens  of  the  plant  had  been  re- 
ceived from  Dr.  H.  S.  Goodell  who  had  met  with  several  cases  of 
accidental  poisoning  therefrom."  The  Doctor  wrote :  "  I  find  it  to  be 
a  powerful  narcotic  poison.  One  of  my  patients,  a  girl  9  years  old, 
claimed  that  she  only  broke  a  stem  of  the  plant  and  rubbed  the  juice 
over  her  lips  and  lapped  it  off  with  her  tongue.  Severe  convulsions 
followed,  lasting  one  and  a  half  hours,  the  most  violent  it  has  been 
my  lot  to  witness  in  a  practice  of  35  years.  Twenty-four  hours  later 
she  had  one  of  an  hour's  duration."  Messrs.  Lloyd  then  stated  that 
"the  plant  is  now  being  physiologically  investigated  by  Prof.  Roberts 
Bartholow  and  its  constituents  are  being  investigated  by  us."  We 
believe  that  no  report  has  yet  been  published. 
In  1879  Sereno  Watson,  in  reviewing  "Our  North  American  Lilia- 
cese,"  distinguished  a  new  species  in  what  had  been  classed  as  Z.  Nut- 
tallii,  Gray.  The  new  species  he  named  Zygadenus  venenosus,  Wat- 
son, the  specific  name  signifying  its  poisonous  characters. 
In  the  "Botany  of  California"  the  same  writer  states  of  this  plant: 
"The  bulb  is  poisonous  and  is  known  among  the  Northern  tribes  of 
Indians  as  '  Death  Camass.'  Dr.  Bolander  states,  however,  that  in 
Sonoma  county  it  is  eagerly  eaten  by  hogs  and  that  hence  it  is  called 
< Hog's  Potatoes'  by  the  farmers."  G.  M.  B. 
Salol  is  reported  by  Dr.  W.  P.  Nicholson,  of  Atlanta,  Ga.,  to  have  given 
him  very  satisfactory  results  in  dysentery  and  in  diarrhoea  accompanying 
typhoid  fever;  it  was  used  in  five-grain  doses. —  Virg.  Med.  Monthly. 
1  Amer.  Druggist,  Aug.,  1889. 
