Am.  Jour.  Phai-tn.  1 
March,  1899.  / 
Phci7'7naco logical  Notes. 
147 
iodin  compound  from  the  sheep  thyroid  has  been  extracted,  called 
thyro-iodin,  and  in  the  present  state  of  our  knowledge  the  weight 
of  authority  is  in  favor  of  this  being  the  effective  chemic  agent  in 
thyroid  therapy."  J.  L.  D.  M. 
POISONING  BY  CANNABIS  INDICA  RECOVERY. 
Saxby  [British  Medical  Journal,  October  15,  1898)  reports  a  case 
of  poisoning  from  two  teaspoonfuls  of  tincture  of  Cannabis  indica. 
The  patient  was  perfectly  well  at  9.1 5 .  o'clock.  At  10  o'clock  his 
pulse  was  weak  and  irregular,  and  the  heart-sounds  faint.  The 
whole  body  was  bathed  in  perspiration  and  cold,  the  limbs  flaccid 
and  the  plantar  reflex  absent.  The  pupils  were  widely  dilated, 
contracting  slightly  when  a  candle  was  placed  near  the  eye.  The 
patient  could  not  be  roused,  and  the  conjunctival  reflex  was  absent. 
The  injection  hypodermically  of  gr.  ^  of  strychnine  sulphate  was 
followed  by  prompt  response.  The  patient  opened  his  eyes,  under- 
stood what  was  said  to  him,  but  was  unable,  at  first,  to  speak.  He 
was  given  gr.  -JL  of  apomorphine  hypodermically,  after  which  he 
vomited  promptly  and  profusely,  and  he  then  recovered  rapidly. — 
Phila.  Med.  Jour.,  p.  946.  J.  L.  D.  M. 
EDITORIAL. 
IMMUNITY  OF  CERTAIN  ANIMALS  TO  POISONS. 
Ill  an  editorial  in  a  recent  issue  of  this  Journal  attention  was  directed  to 
the  difficulty  of  framing  a  definition  as  to  what  constitutes  a  poison.  The  ex- 
pression, "  What  is  one  man's  meat  is  anotherman's  poison,"  is  applicablenot 
only  to  man,  but  the  whole  animal  as  well  as  plant  kingdom.  Arsenic,  while 
commonly  believed  not  to  be  injurious  to  plants,  is  shown  by  the  investigations 
of  Stoklasa  to  be  highly  poisonous  to  some  plants,  in  relatively  minute 
quantities.  Many  experiments  have  been  made  to  determine  the  toxicity  of 
various  substances  on  plants,  and  the  results  obtained  would  seem  to  indicate 
(as  suggested  by  Frank)  that  there  is  a  difference  in  certain  plants  to  absorb 
toxic  substances  ;  this  having  been  particularly  verified  in  analyses  of  peas, 
violets,  silenes,  etc.,  growing  in  soil  containing  zinc. 
In  the  animal  kingdom  it  is  particularly  noteworthy  that  some  animals  enjoy 
an  unusual  immunity  from  the  action  of  certain  poisonous  plants.  Goats  can  eat 
the  leaves  and  other  parts  of  stramonium  and  are  apparently  not  affected. 
Horses,  goats  and  sheep  can  eat  conium  leaves  with  impunity.  Birds  may  like- 
wise eat  the  berries  of  belladonna.  In  an  article  in  the  National  Druggist 
(1897,  p.  103)  the  writer  shows  that  Cytisus  repens  (Laburnum)  can  be  eaten 
with  impunity  by  ruminants  of  all  kinds,  but  is  deadly  to  horses.  The  hedgehog 
is  not  affected  by  either  cantharides  or  the  venom  of  vipers.  The  pig  is  likewise 
