proximate principle, either from the fresh or dried plant. The
disease called loco was as murky as the milk sickness so prevalent
in the new settlements of Indiana and Kentucky in early days, and,
like the numberless herbs that have been presumed to produce that
obscure peculiar disease, milk sickness, loco was unresponsive to
my chemistry.[127]
It may be safely said that if a specimen of the plant were to be
examined in the ordinary manner by a chemist who had no idea of its
importance he would report that it did not contain a characteristic
proximate constituent.[128]
Can it be that an admixture of loco and some undetermined plant or
earth infected with bacteria taken with the roots, each innocuous
under other conditions, can by digestion together in the stomach
and intestines result in the production of a poison?[129]
To sum up, it seems to the writer that the poison of loco is a
product, and not an educt.[130]
But Lloyd adds, in speaking of the reports of various experts and
ranchmen:
Their description concerning its toxic action on animals agreed,
and it was folly to argue that so many observers from so many
sections of the country could be misled. There must be an
undetermined something behind the loco-weed.[131]
In 1893 O'Brine, from Colorado, and Mayo, from Kansas, reported on their
work with the loco plants. O'Brine failed to isolate any alkaloidal or
other poisonous body, and his feeding experiments on himself and on
rabbits having failed, he sums up in despair: "The more I examine the
loco question, the more I am persuaded that we must look for some other
cause besides the loco-weed."[132] At the end of his report he gives
some ash analyses but fails to interpret them. He also fails to give
details as to the method of obtaining and estimating his ash. O'Brine's
ash analyses are as follows:
KEY TO ASH ANALYSIS:
A = SiO_{2}.
B = Fe_{2}O_{3} and Al_{2}O_{3}.
C = CaO.
D = MgO.
E = K_{2}O.
F = Na_{2}O.
G = H_{2}SO_{4}
H = Cl.
I = P_{2}O_{5}.
J = CO_{2}
------+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+-----+----+----+----+----+-----+
Plant.|Total| | | | | | | | | | |
|ash. | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J |
------+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+-----+----+----+----+----+-----+
AM |12.15|32.77|16.26| 6.05|3.11|13.30|3.21|3.9 |0.47|6.12|10.55|
| | | | | | | | | | | |
AL |13.52|17.08|12.21|14.27|2.62|17.26|5.75|3.22|3.87|3.30|17.37|
| | | | | | | | | | | |
AC |12.36| 7.82| 5.97|12.10|3.55|23.35|3.38|5.56|9.0 |4.67|20.62|
| | | | | | | | | | | |
------+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+-----+----+----+----+----+-----+
KEY TO PLANTS:
AM = _Astragalus mollissimus_ (whole plant)
AL = _Aragallus lamberti_ (whole plant)
AS = _Astragalus caryocarpus_
These analyses are evidently incorrect, as O'Brine estimates a carbon
content of 4.13 per cent for the first, and for the second 2.22 per
cent, showing incomplete combustion.
Mayo[133] experimented with alcoholic and aqueous extracts of dried
_Astragalus mollissimus_ on guinea pigs, with negative results, and was
first led to deny a relationship between the disease and the plants.
Later, as a result of the post-mortem findings, he was convinced that
his first conclusion was wrong and that "the disease is certainly the
result of animals feeding upon the loco-weed." Mayo says:
A careful survey of the experiments performed and observations
noted leads me to the opinion that the disease known as "loco" is
the result of malnutrition, or a gradual starvation, caused by the
animals eating the plants known as "loco weeds," either _Astragalus
mollissimus_ or _Aragallus lamberti_. If there is a narcotic
principle in the plant, chemists have failed to find it and a fluid
extract does not possess it, and a ton of the plant eaten by an
animal ought to contain enough of the poisonous properties to
destroy an animal.
Kobert[134] has also tested the activity of _Astragalus mollissimus_ and
says, "Ich fand _Astragalus mollissimus_ ziemlich unwirksam."
Doctor McEackran[135] fed dried _Astragalus mollissimus_ and _Aragallus
lamberti_ mixed with feed to a stabled animal for two months without
result. (Animal not stated).[136] Similar negative experiments are
reported from the State of Washington, but the amounts used were too
small to form any conclusions.[137]
Mr. V. K. Chesnut[138] has busied himself with the loco problem, but
mainly in an executive capacity, his own efforts being directed to the
study of the relation of the loco plants to the disease on the range. He
has done no laboratory work. Chesnut and Wilcox made numerous autopsies
on sheep and experiments on animals. They claimed that an extract of
_Aragallus spicatus_ produced some slight narcotic action in rabbits.
Their pathological examinations failed to show any characteristic
lesion, but they state that the cerebral membranes were in all cases
slightly congested. They deny any causative relationship to the presence
of worms or with feeding upon alkalis. They believe that sheep are more
likely to become locoed if not salted regularly. Chesnut describes one
case in which a lamb became locoed by nursing from a locoed mother.
In 1901 Reid Hunt, at that time a special agent of the United States
Department of Agriculture, studied the loco question in Montana, working
mainly with _Aragallus spicatus_. He moistened the ground-up plant with
93 per cent ethyl alcohol and then percolated it until exhausted. This
extract was evaporated and taken up with water so that 1 c.c. of the
solution corresponded to 10 grams of the plant. This was fed to an
active young rabbit weighing 490 grams, 6 c.c. being fed by the mouth
and followed in about an hour by 10 c.c. more, and two hours after this
by 15 c.c. This rabbit showed no symptoms during the following day. The
next day it was very dull and there was marked muscular weakness, as the
rabbit's legs were spread wide apart and his nose rested on the ground.
Later respiration became very slow and the pupils were dilated. The
paralytic symptoms increased and finally, after a convulsive movement,
the animal died, thirty-six hours after the first feeding. Hunt merely
states of the post-mortem examination that the stomach was well filled
and that the "walls seem normal."
Hunt tried to isolate an active principle by the Dragendorff method, but
failed to obtain any physiologically active shakings. He tried
hypodermic injections of 80 per cent alcohol extractions of the fresh
green plant, and after the injection of an extract corresponding to 60
grams of the fresh plant there was no effect produced. He tried to
induce symptoms by feeding the plant itself to rabbits, but was
unsuccessful, as the rabbits refused to eat the plant. He was not able
to induce symptoms with the extracts of the dried plant.[139]
Marshall[140] studied the loco question with regard to sheep and
practically denies the existence of a locoed condition due to eating the
loco plants, but believes the condition due to bad feeding, parasitism,
etc. He lays great stress upon the presence of worms, but fails to see
that they may be merely a secondary infection superimposed upon an
already morbid condition produced by eating the plants. Others have
claimed that the cause is an insect living upon the loco plants. Others,
again, have suggested an analogy with trypanosome disorders.
Chesnut has held the view that many of the cases of so-called locoed
sheep were really due to parasites, but that there was a true locoed
condition due to eating the loco weeds.
The lack of agreement in the results of the investigators has caused
many to doubt any positive relation between the plant and the disease,
and even as late as 1904 Payne[141] practically says these diseases are
due to lack of nutrition and not to the loco plant. The matter has been
summed up in a recent work as follows:
Though many chemists have sought for the constituents, none have
been able to locate the active properties, the trace of alkaloids,
resins, volatile and fixed oils having each in turn been found
destitute of it. Yet the poisonous properties are fully established
by field observations. The destructiveness of these plants to stock
is so great as to have probably caused upward of a million dollars
loss in the aggregate, and large bounties have been offered by
State governments for an effective method of avoiding such losses.
It is considered very probable that the poisonous constituent is
albuminoidal.[142]
* * * * *
FOOTNOTES:
[83] Storke, B. F. The Loco Weed. Med. Current, vol. 8, p.
155. 1892.--Kellogg, A. California and Colorado "Loco"
Poisons. Cal. Acad. Sci. Proc. for 1875, vol. 6, p. 3. 1876.
NOTE.--The very early reports of these loco plants were
purely botanical. See Torrey, J., Botany, in Report on the
United States and Mexican Boundary Survey, by W. H. Emory,
vol. 2, p. 56, 1859; also Botanical Register, London, vol.
13, pl. 1054, 1827.
[84] Vasey, G. Plants Poisonous to Cattle in California.
Rept. of Commissioner of Agriculture for 1874, p. 159. 1875.
[85] Vasey, G. Botanical Notes. Monthly Reports of Dept.
Agriculture for 1873, p. 503. 1874.
[86] Vasey, G. Botanical Notes. Monthly Reports of Dept.
Agriculture for 1874, p. 513. 1875.
[87] Brewer, W. H., and Watson, S. Geological Survey of
California, Botany, vol. 1, p. 155. 1876.
[88] Rothrock, J. T. Notes on Economic Botany, in G. M.
Wheeler's Report upon U. S. Geographical Surveys West of the
One Hundredth Meridian, vol. 6, p. 43. 1878.
[89] Kellogg, A. California and Colorado Loco Poisons. Cal.
Academy of Sciences, Proc., 1875, vol. 6, p. 3. 1876.
[90] Rothrock, J. T. Poisonous Properties of the Leguminosæ.
Acad. of Nat. Sci., Phila., Proc., vol. 29, p. 274. 1877.
[91] Prescott, A. B. Laboratory Notes--A Partial Analysis of
the Oxytropis Lamberti. Amer. Journ. Pharm., vol. 50, p. 564.
1878.
[92] Rept. of Commissioner of Agriculture for 1878, p. 134.
1879.
[93] Rept. of Commissioner of Agriculture for 1879, pp. 89,
90. 1880.
[94] Rept. of Commissioner of Agriculture for 1886, p. 75.
1887. Rept. of Commissioner of Agriculture for 1884, p. 123.
1884.
[95] Rothrock, J. T. Notes on Economic Botany, in G. M.
Wheeler's Report upon U. S. Geographical Surveys West of the
One Hundredth Meridian, vol. 6, p. 43. 1878.
[96] Gibbons, H. Poisonous Effects of Crotalaria--Vulgo
Rattle Weed, Loco Weed. Pacific Med. and Surg. Journ., vol.
21, p. 496. 1878-79.
[97] Ott, I. Physiological Action of Astragalus Mollissimus.
New Remedies, vol. 11, p. 227. 1882.
[98] Hill, J. R. Note on a Species of Astragalus from Cyprus.
Pharm. Journ. and Trans., 3 s., vol. 18, p. 712. 1887-88.
[99] Sayre, L. E. Loco-Weed. Proc. Amer. Pharm. Assoc., vol.
36, p. 112. 1888.
[100] Sayre, L. E. Loco Weed. Amer. Vet. Rev., vol. 11, p.
556. 1887.
[101] Kennedy, J. Loco Weed (Crazy Weed). Pharm. Rec., vol.
8, p. 197. 1888.
[102] Day, M. G. Experimental Demonstrations of the Toxicity
of the "Loco Weed." N. Y. Med. Journ., vol. 49, p. 237. 1889.
[103] Presumably a 10 per cent decoction, U. S. P.
[104] Storke, R. F. The Loco Weed. Med. Current, vol. 8, p.
157. 1892.
[105] Day, M. G. The Separation of the Poison of the "Loco
Weed." N. Y. Med. Journ., vol. 50, p. 604. 1889.
[106] Sayre, L. E. Active Principle of Loco Weed. Notes on
New Remedies, vol. 2, No. 12, p. 1.
[107] Day, M. G. Loco Weed, in F. P. Foster's Reference-Book
of Practical Therapeutics, vol. 1, p. 588. 1896.
[108] Stalker, M. 1st Ann. Rept. State Vet. Surg. Iowa, p.
16. 1885.
[109] Power, F. B., and Cambier, J. Chemical Examination of
Some Loco-Weeds. Pharm. Rundschau, vol. 9, p. 8.
1891.--Power, F. B. Notes on the So-called Loco Weeds. Pharm.
Rundschau, vol. 7, p. 134, 1889.--See also Hoffmann, F.,
Loco-Weeds, in Pharm. Rundschau, vol. 7, p. 168. 1889.
[110] Kennedy, J. Pharm. Rec., vol. 8, p. 197. 1888. Kennedy
also obtained ammonia from _Astragalus mollissimus_.
[111] O'Brine, D. Progress Bulletin on the Loco and Larkspur.
Colo. State Agric. Coll. Bul. 25, p. 18. 1893.
[112] Oatman, H. C. The Poisonous Principle of Loco Weed.
Notes on New Remedies, vol. 4, p. 14. 1891-92.
[113] Sayre, L. E. Loco Weed. Kans. Acad. Sci. Trans., vol.
18, p. 141. 1903.
[114] Sayre, L. E. Loco Weeds. 7th Bienn. Rept. Kans. State
Board Agric. for 1889-90, vol. 12, pt. 2, p. 99. 1891.
[115] Sayre, L. E. Further Report on Loco Weeds. Notes on New
Remedies, vol. 4, p. 80. 1891-92.
[116] Sayre, L. E. The Loco Disease. Journ. Kans. Med. Soc.,
vol. 4, pp. 241-243. 1904.--What is Insanity in Lower
Animals? Journ. Kans. Med. Soc., vol. 4, p. 222. 1904.
[117] Sayre, L. E. Loco Weed. Kans. Acad. Sci. Trans., vol.
18, p. 144. 1903.
[118] Ruedi, C. Loco Weed (Astragalus Mollissimus): A
Toxico-Chemical Study. Trans. Colo. State Med. Soc., p. 418.
1895.--Also Treatment of Animals Poisoned by Loco Weed
(unpublished article).
[119] The "Loco Disease." Therap. Gaz., vol. 12, p. 30. 1888.
[120] Sayre, L. E. Loco Weed. Kans. Acad. Sci. Trans., vol.
18, p. 142. 1903.
[121] Sayre, L. E. Loco Weeds. 7th Bien. Rept. Kansas State
Board Agric. for 1889-1890, pt. 2, p. 98. 1891.
[122] Curtice, C. Tape-Worm Disease of Sheep of the Western
Plains. Bur. Animal Industry, 4th and 5th Ann. Rept., p. 167.
1889.
[123] Steele, C. D. New Theory about Loco. Farm and Ranch,
vol. 20, No. 35, p. 1. 1901.
[124] Marshall, H. T. Loco Weed Disease of Sheep. Johns
Hopkins Hospital Bul., vol. 15, p. 181. 1904.--Data as to
these parasites of sheep may be found in Curtice, C., The
Animal Parasites of Sheep, Bur. Animal Industry, Rept., 1890.
[125] Faust, E. S., and Tallquist, T. W. Ueber d. Ursachen
der Bothriocephalus-anämie. Arch. f. Exp. Path., vol. 57, p.
367. 1907.
[126] Walshia Amorphella and the Loco Weed. Insect Life, vol.
2, p. 50. 1889-90. Snow, F. H. Loco-Weed. Science, vol. 9, p.
92. 1887.
[127] Lloyd, J. U. Loco, or Crazy Weed. Eclectic Med. Journ.,
vol. 53, p. 482. 1893.
[128] Lloyd, J. U., l. c., p. 483.
[129] Lloyd, J. U., l. c., p. 484.
NOTE.--Eccles had previously announced a somewhat similar
idea. Sayre, L. E. Loco Weed. Proc. Amer. Pharm. Assoc., vol.
36, p. 115. 1889.
[130] Lloyd, J. U., l. c., p. 486.
[131] Lloyd, J. U., l. c., p. 483.
[132] O'Brine, D. Progress Bulletin on the Loco and Larkspur.
Colo. State Agric. Coll. Bul. 25, p. 17. 1893.
[133] Mayo, N. S. Some Observations on Loco. Kans. State
Agric. Coll. Bul. 35, p. 116. 1893.
[134] Kobert, R. Lehrb. d. Intoxikationen, p. 615. 1893.
[135] O'Brine, D. Progress Bulletin on Loco and Larkspur.
Colo. State Agric. Coll. Bul. 25, p. 13. 1893.
[136] After the manuscript of this bulletin was sent to the
printer it was learned through Professor Carpenter that the
animal was a horse.
[137] Nelson, S. B. Feeding Wild Plants to Sheep. Bur. Animal
Industry, Bul. 22, p. 12. 1898.
[138] Chesnut, V. K., and Wilcox, E. V. Stock-Poisoning
Plants of Montana. U. S. Dept. Agric., Div. Bot., Bul. 26, p.
95. 1901.--Wilcox, E. V. Plant Poisoning of Stock in Montana.
Bur. Animal Industry, 17th Ann. Rept., p. 111. 1900.
NOTE.--The writer wishes to acknowledge the great literary
help Mr. Chesnut's card catalogue has been to him in the
preparation of this paper.
[139] Unpublished report.
[140] Marshall, H. T. Loco Weed Disease of Sheep. Johns
Hopkins Hospital Bul., vol. 15, p. 182. 1904.
[141] Payne, J. E. Cattle Raising on the Plains. Colo. Agric.
Expt. Sta. Bul. 87, p. 16. 1904.
[142] National Standard Dispensatory, p. 868. 1905.
NOTE.--The field experiments of Harding and Tudor are rather
conclusive as to the relation of these plants to this
disorder. Sayre, L. E., Loco Weed, Amer. Vet. Rev., vol. 11,
pp. 553-554, 1887--Blankinship, J. W., Loco and Some Other
Poisonous Plants in Montana, Mont. Agric. Exper. Sta. Bul.
45, pp. 83-84, 1903--Loco Disease, Therap. Gaz., vol. 12, p.
30. 1898.
=NOTES ON VARIOUS MEMBERS OF THE LOCO-WEED FAMILY.=
_Astragalus caryocarpus_ is at times eaten in some of the Western
States, but is claimed by some at certain stages of its growth to
contain a poisonous principle. Frankforter,[143] from experiments on
himself, however, denies this.
_Astragalus glycophyllus_ has been used as a diuretic and _Astragalus
exscapus_ in the treatment of syphilis.[144] "The seed of _A. boeticus_,
planted in Germany and England, are found to be the very best substitute
for coffee yet tried, and so used--roasted, parched, and mixed with
coffee."[145] _Astragalus nuttallianus_, according to Smith,[146] is a
highly nutritious forage plant in spring. _Astragalus crassicarpus_ has
been prophesied by him to be a valuable addition to early spring soiling
crops. _Astragalus adsurgens_ (_nitidus_) and one or two other species
of Astragalus are still used in Chinese medicine.[147] The Indians of
the Southwest are familiar with certain loco plants.[148] The Tewans of
Hano are said to eat the root of _Aragallus lamberti_, and _Astragalus
mollissimus_ is applied locally for headaches by some of the Arizona
Indians. One of these species is used as a flavoring material by the
Coahuillas and is mixed with other plants as spices.[149] _Astragalus
kentrophyta_ had a reputation among the Navajos for the treatment of
rabies.[150] The use of certain loco plants--_Astragalus
mollissimus_--has been advocated on theoretical grounds in the treatment
of certain forms of insanity, but without favorable results.[151] In
Peru and Chile _Astragalus garbancillo_, _A. unifultus_, and _A.
ochroleucus_ have been considered injurious to animals.[152] _Astragalus
glyciphyllus_ and _A. alpinus_ have been used in Europe as food for
stock.[153]
Details as to the use of other Astragali can be found in Planchon, G.,
Sur les Astragales, in Journal de Pharmacie et de Chimie, 5th series,
vol 24, p. 473, 1891; 5th series, vol. 25, pp. 169, 233, 1892.
* * * * *
FOOTNOTES:
[143] Frankforter, G. B. A Chemical Study of Astragalus
Caryocarpus. Amer. Journ. Pharm., vol. 72, p. 320. 1900.
[144] Maisch, J. M. Poisonous Species of Astragalus. Amer.
Journ. Pharm., vol. 51, p. 240. 1879.--Fleurot. Chimiques et
Pharmaceutiques sur la Racines d'Astragale sans Tiges. Journ.
de Chim. Med., vol. 10, p. 656. 1834.
[145] Porcher, F. P. Resources of the Southern Fields and
Forests, p. 204. 1869.
[146] Smith, J. G. Fodder and Forage Plants. U. S. Dept.
Agric., Div. Agrost., Bul. 2 (rev. ed.), p. 12. 1900.
[147] Holmes, E. M. Notes on Chinese Drugs. Pharm. Journ. and
Trans., vol. 21, 3 s., p. 1149. 1891.
[148] Hough, W. Environmental Interrelations in Arizona.
Amer. Anthropologist, vol. 11, pp. 143, 147. 1898.
[149] Barrows, D. P. Ethno-Botany of the Coahuilla Indians of
Southern California, p. 67. 1900.
[150] Matthews, W. Navajo Names for Plants. Amer. Nat., vol.
20, p. 772. 1886.
[151] Givens, A. J. Loco or Crazy Weed. Med. Century, vol. 1.
p. 21. 1893.--Compare Hurd, H. M. Amer. Journ. Insanity, vol.
42, p. 178. 1885-86.
[152] Rosenthal, D. A. Synopsis Plantarum Diaphoricarum,
Erlangen, 1861, p. 1004. Greshoff, M. Beschrijving d. Giftige
en Bedwelmeude Planten bij de Vischvangst in Gebrulk, p. 51.
1900.
[153] Pott, E. Handb. d. tierisch. Ernährung, vol. 2, p. 113.
1907.
=LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS--PHYSIOLOGICAL.=
The first point in our investigations was to determine whether the plant
exerted any poisonous action and to find some animal which responded
regularly to it; then to ascertain if the lack of results of previous
investigators was not due to insufficient doses, and later to see if by
feeding smaller amounts at repeated intervals symptoms comparable to
those described as occurring on the range could not be produced. The
animal finally selected was the rabbit.
=EXPERIMENTS ON RABBITS.=
=ACUTE CASES.=
_Experiment No. 1._--On September 8, 1905, an aqueous extract of 333
grams of fresh _Astragalus mollissimus_, made in Hugo, Colo., and
shipped preserved in chloroform,[154] killed a rabbit weighing 1,616
grams in one hour and thirty-five minutes, while an extract
corresponding to 167 grams merely caused drowsiness and loss of appetite
in a rabbit weighing 765 grams.
_Experiment No. 2._--On November 29, 1905, a rabbit weighing 1,162.3
grams was fed with a concentrated aqueous extract of 500 grams of fresh
_Astragalus mollissimus_, which had been shipped from Hugo, Colo.,
preserved in chloroform in sealed vessels. This animal died in one hour
and ten minutes. The symptoms consisted in dullness, rapid respiration,
and signs of pain. At autopsy the stomach and upper part of the small
intestines showed hemorrhagic ecchymoses, with dilation of the dural
vessels of the brain and cord, with a clot over a portion of the spinal
cord.
_Experiment No. 3._--On February 13, 1906, a rabbit weighing 992 grams
was fed with a concentrated aqueous extract of 500 grams of the fresh
_Astragalus mollissimus_, collected in September and preserved in
chloroform water. Before feeding, the rabbit's ears were warm and the
rabbit struggled when any attempt was made to turn him on his back. The
temperature at 10.50 a.m., the time of feeding, was 103.5°F.; at 11.15
a.m., 102.5°F. At 11.30 a.m. the rabbit was breathing very rapidly
and would stay on his back for some time if placed so. The temperature
at this time was 102.6°F. Both pupils, the one exposed to the light and
the one protected, were contracted. At 12.02 p.m. convulsive movements
of the legs appeared. The rabbit made one leap, the temperature rose to
103.6°F., and after a few convulsive movements of the limbs the anus
relaxed and a small stool appeared, the pupils dilated, and the animal
died at 12.06 p.m.
_Experiment No. 4._--The feeding of the extract of 464 grams induced a
fall in temperature of 2.4°F. in three hours, and the rabbit died
several hours later (at night).
_Experiment No. 5._--March 2, 1906, a rabbit weighing 928 grams was fed
with a concentrated extract of 500 grams of the fresh seeds and pods of
_Astragalus mollissimus_, made in September, 1905, and preserved with
chloroform water. This animal died in one hour and seven minutes. The
animal showed the usual post-mortem conditions.
It was thus found that the aqueous extract of 500 grams of the fresh
_Astragalus mollissimus_ would cause death in about one hour in rabbits
weighing about 2 pounds (907 grams), these rabbits showing constant
clinical symptoms--urination, paralysis, more or less convulsive
muscular twitchings, often terminating in general convulsions,
drowsiness, and stupor, with more or less anesthesia. The pupils at the
time of death were often unequal. At first there was usually a slight
rise in temperature, but this was soon succeeded by a fall. Often there
were soft stools. The post-mortem lesions in these cases were marked
congestion, with hemorrhages in the stomach walls and a secretion of
thick mucus. The portions of the stomach walls most affected were the
dependent portions near the cardiac end. The intestines showed
dilatation of the blood vessels. The mesenteric vessels and also the
vessels in the cerebral portions of the dura were markedly dilated; in
some cases there were clots, especially at the posterior portion of the
brain, between the cerebrum and the cerebellum. At times there were
clots over the dorsal portion of the cord. On cutting into the brain the
brain substance itself did not appear to be congested. The cord seemed
about normal, but the vessels of its membranes were well marked. The
other organs showed nothing characteristic macroscopically. These
experiments were repeated many times and found to be constant.
These acute symptoms were likewise produced by an extract of 500 grams
of the fresh _Aragallus lamberti_ from Arizona preserved in chloroform
water (rabbit weighing 1,998 grams). An aqueous extract of 150 grams of
the dried _Astragalus mollissimus_[155] from Imperial, Nebr. (1906),
caused death in one hour and fifty-eight minutes in a rabbit weighing
1,530 grams, and an extract of 100 grams killed in one hour and
twenty-two minutes a rabbit weighing 736 grams.
An aqueous extract of 100 grams of the dried _Astragalus bigelowii_
induced death in one hour and thirty-eight minutes, the rabbit weighing
1,502 grams.
An aqueous extract of 150 grams of _Astragalus nitidus_ collected at
Woodland Park, Colo., in 1906 induced death in three hours and five
minutes, the rabbit weighing 1,672 grams.