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ON  THE  OLEANDER.  171 
ON  THE  OLEANDER  (NERIUM  OLEANDER). 
By  M.  Latour. 
In  traversing  the  valleys  of  Catalonia  and  Valencia  we  are 
struck  with  the  vigorous  vegetation  of  these  beautiful  countries  ; 
the  rivers  are  bordered  with  the  oleander,  which  grows  sponta- 
neously, and  is  easily  propagated  ;  this  shrub  is  abundant  in 
Algeria,  and  is  cultivated  in  France  as  an  ornament  to  the 
garden  ;  its  poisonous  properties  have  been  long  known,  and 
works  on  toxicology  mention  the  case  of  the  poisoning  of  a  body 
of  troops  under  Marshal  Suchet,  when  many  died  after  a  meal 
of  meat  cooked  and  skewered  with  branches  of  the  oleander. 
The  cherry  laurel,  which  is  likewise  poisonous,  is  employed  in 
Paris,  in  conjunction  with  the  rose  oleander,  to  ornament  butch- 
er's meat.  In  a  note,  which  I  have  addressed  to  the  Prefect  of 
Police,  I  have  denounced  this  dangerous  custom,  which  I  trust 
will  be  discontinued. 
M.  Latour  has  made  many  most  careful  investigations,  for  the 
purpose  of  isolating  the  active  principle  of  the  oleander  ;  he 
operated  on  that  of  Algeria,  which  is  distinguished  by  its  milk- 
white  juice,  a  characteristic  which  is  not  found  in  that  cultivated 
in  France. 
Although  from  time  to  time  endeavors  have  been  made  to  use 
preparations  of  the  oleander  in  therapeutics,  it  is  now  quite 
abandoned ;  as  a  poison,  two  kinds  of  accidents  have  been 
described  ;  those  produced  by  swallowing  the  soluble  principles  ; 
and  those  produced  by  remaining  for  some  time  under  the  branches 
of  this  shrub. 
This  last  kind  of  accident  is  in  admissible,  for  the  oleander  pos- 
sesses no  volatile  principles.  M.  Latour's  experiments  show  that 
the  leaves  of  the  oleander  contain  ;  1st,  wax  and  a  green  fatty 
matter  ;  2nd,  chlorophylle ;  3rd,  a  neutral,  white,  crystallisable 
resin  ;  4th,  an  acrid  yellow  resin,  electro-negative  (this  is  the 
poisonous  principle  ;)  5th,  tannin  ;  6th,  a  small  quantity  of 
uncrystallisable  sugar ;  7th,  albumen ;  cellulose ;  9th,  salts, 
chlorides,  sulphates,  and  acetates,  of  potassa,  lime,  and  magnesia. 
On  distilling  the  fresh  and  dry  leaves  of  the  oleander  with 
water,  M.  Latour  ascertained  that  a  portion  of  the  acrid  resin 
