II.—Mezereon.
§ 576. The Daphne Mezereum (L.).—Mezereon, an indigenous shrub belonging to the Thymeleaceæ, is rather rare in the wild state, but very frequent in gardens. The flowers are purple and the berries red. Buckheim isolated by means of ether an acrid resin, which was converted by saponifying agents into mezereic acid; the acrid resin is the anhydride of the acid. The resin is presumed to be the active poisonous constituent of the plant, but the subject awaits further investigation. There are a few cases of poisoning on record, and they have been mostly from the berries. Thus, Linné has recorded an instance in which a little girl died after eating twelve berries. The symptoms observed in the recorded cases have been burning in the mouth, gastroenteritis, vomiting, giddiness, narcosis, and convulsions, ending in death. The lethal dose for a horse is about 30 grms. of powdered bark; for a dog, the œsophagus being tied, 12 grms.; but smaller doses of the fresh leaves may be deadly.
DIVISION IV.—VARIOUS VEGETABLE POISONOUS PRINCIPLES—NOT ADMITTING OF CLASSIFICATION UNDER THE PREVIOUS THREE DIVISIONS.
I.—Ergot of Rye.
§ 577. Ergot is a peculiar fungus attacking the rye and other graminaceous plants;[599] it has received various names, Claviceps purpurea (Tulasne), Spermœdia clavus (Fries), Sclerotium clavus (D.C.), &c. The peculiar train of symptoms arising from the eating of ergotised grain (culminating occasionally in gangrene of the lower limbs), its powerful action on the pregnant uterus, and its styptic effects, are well known.
[599] Some of the Cyperaceæ are also attacked.