160  Xanthium  Spinosum.  {AmAJP0Xi877arm' 
with  one  short  and  inconspicuous  beak.  The  leaves  dried  and  powdered 
are  of  a  green  color,  have  a  strong  somewhat  narcotic  odor  and  a  bitter 
taste.  According  to  C.  C.  Keller,  they  contain  a  volatile  oil  and  bitter 
extractive.  The  results  of  the  analysis  of  Yvon  and  Nocard  will  be 
found  in  our  last  volume,  page  538.  The  leaves  were  recommended 
to  be  taken  uninterruptedly  for  six  weeks  in  doses  of  o*6o  grams  (10 
grains)  three  times  daily,  for  adults,  and  for  children  under  12  years,  in 
half  the  quantity  stated,  cataplasms  of  the  leaves  being  applied  at  the 
same  time.  For  dogs,  the  doses  required  are  said  to  be  considerably 
larger.  The  drug  is  stated  to  be  successfully  employed  in  southern 
Russia,  in  cases  of  threatened  hydrophobia. 
A  report  on  the  action  of  Xanthium  spinosum,  by  Trasbot  and 
Nocard,  was  read  December  14,  1876,  before  the  Societe  centrale  de 
medecine  veterinaire.  The  authors  had  inoculated  eleven  dogs  with 
saliva  taken  from  a  living  rabid  dog  ;  six  were  treated  with  the  leaves 
of  xanthium,  but  nine  of  the  whole  number  died  in  from  fourteen  to 
eighty  days,  two  with  all  the  symptoms  of  hydrophobia,  the  remainder 
with  nervous  symptoms,  not  decided  enough  to  attribute  them  to  this 
disease.  The  authors  therefore  conclude  that  the  spinous  cocklebur 
has  not  the  property  of  curing  hydrophobia,  nor  does  it  prevent  its 
development,  after  either  natural  or  experimental  inoculation. 
These  experiments,  it  must*  be  admitted,  do  not  support  the  state- 
ments of  Dr.  Grzymala,  of  Podolia,  who  a  year  ago  recommended  it, 
based  upon  observations  extending  over  twenty  years,  and  numerous 
cases  of  men  and  animals  bitten  by  rabid  dogs  or  wolves.  According 
to  L.  Lade,  it  was  noticed  as  early  as  1861  by  Oesterle,  in  his  "  Arznei 
mittellehre,"  as  a  remedy  highly  recommended  by  a  Russian  physician 
in  hydrophobia.  Other  experiments  are  being  made  in  the  veterinary 
school  of  Zurich  and  very  likely  in  other  places,  so  that  the  true  value  of 
the  proposed  remedy  will  soon  be  established.  Thus  far  it  appears  as 
if  it  was  to  share  the  fate  of  the  xanthion  of  the  ancient  writers,  the 
root,  leaves  and  fruit  of  which  were  formerly  held  to  possess  diuretic, 
diaphoretic  and  alterative  properties. 
The  species  alluded  to  is  Xanthium  strumarium  Lin.,  which  is  now 
found  in  most  parts  of  the  civilized  world,  though  perhaps  originally 
indigenous  to  Asia,  Europe  and  the  northern  part  of  Africa.  It 
resembles  the  species  above  described,  from  which  it  is  distinguished 
by  the  absence  of  spines  at  the  base  of  the  leaves,  by  the  broadly 
