284 
Toxicity  of  Strychnine. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
June,  1902. 
Ten  mg.  quantities  of  strychnine  sulphate,  having  been  injected 
into  the  tissues  of  rabbits  and  guinea-pigs  respectively  and  extracted, 
was  then  injected  into  frogs  and  guinea-pigs  in  doses  which  were 
calculated  upon  the  supposition  that  the  whole  of  the  10  milli- 
grammes was  recovered,  none  being  lost  or  destroyed  in  the  tissues. 
Having  noticed  the  absence  of  bitterness  in  the  solution  of  extracted 
strychnine  and,  further,  that  the  amounts  theoretically  present  did 
not  prove  fatal  in  the  usually  fatal  dose,  while  the  convulsive  action 
was  considerably  delayed,  it  was  suspected  that  the  colloid  matter 
present  was  responsible  for  the  diminished  toxicity. 
Calculating  the  dose  of  strychnine  sulphate  extracted  from  the  tis- 
sues from  the  amount  injected,  and  supposing  none  to  have  been  lost 
or  destroyed,  a  dose  of  0-0084  mg.  X  G.  was  survived  by  a  frog,  but 
to  another  0-0086  mg.  X  G.  was  fatal.  This  solution  of  strychnine 
sulphate,  after  repeated  purification,  proved  fatal  to  one  frog  in  the 
dose  of  0-0065  mg.  X  G.,  while  another  survived  a  like  quantity. 
In  order  to  test  the  influence  of  colloids  upon  the  toxicity  of 
strychnine  more  accurately,  strychnine  sulphate  was  suspended  in  oil 
and  in  this  way  0-006  mg.  X  G.  hypodermically  proved  fatal  to  a 
frog  in  12  hours,  evidently  very  near  the  minimum  fatal  quantity 
when  so  used,  since  toxic  doses  usually  kill  in  about  an  hour. 
The  strychnine  sulphate  was  then  dissolved  in  thin  mucilage  of 
acacia  and  0-0055  mg.  X  G.  was  injected  into  a  frog  ;  the  tetanus 
was  delayed  an  hour,  and  recovery  followed  ;  0-0065  mg.  X  G., 
similarly  employed,  was  fatal,  but  upon  repeating  the  experiment, 
but  using  thick  mucilage  of  acacia,  recovery  followed,  though  this 
dose  exceeded  the  quantity  fatal  in  ordinary  solution  by  nearly  50 
per  cent. 
In  a  guinea-pig  0  00495  mS-  X  G.  in  thin  mucilage  caused  con- 
vulsions in  twenty  minutes,  followed  by  recovery;  and  upon  repeating 
this  experiment  upon  another  guinea-pig,  but  using  thick  mucilage 
and  finding  no  convulsive  effect,  the  dose  was  increased  to  0  0054 
mg.  X  G.,  using  thick  mucilage  again ;  this  also  failed  to  produce 
any  noticeable  effect  even  after  some  hours,  the  animal  dying  later 
of  bacterial  poison. 
From  the  results  of  these  experiments  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
presence  of  colloidal  substances  diminishes  the  toxicity  of  alkaloidal 
poisons  injected  hypodermically  as  they  do  when  given  by  the 
mouth. 
