VIII.—Oil of Savin.
§ 607. The leaves of the Sabina communis (Juniperus Sabina), or common savin, an evergreen shrub to be found in many gardens, contains a volatile oil, which has highly irritant properties. Savin leaves are occasionally used in medicine, maximum dose 1 grm. (15·4 grains). There is also a tincture—maximum dose 3 c.c. (about 45 mins.)—and an ointment made by mixing eight parts of savin tops with three of yellow wax and sixteen parts of lard, melting and digesting for twenty minutes, and then straining through calico. The oil, a tincture, and an ointment, are officinal pharmaceutical preparations.
The oil of savin is contained to the extent of about 2 per cent. in the leaves and 10 per cent. in the fruit. It has a peculiar odour, its specific gravity is ·89 to ·94, and it boils at 155° to 160°. An infusion of savin leaves (the leaves being drunk with the liquid) is a popular and very dangerous abortive.
It is stated by Taylor that oil of savin has no abortive effect, save that which is to be attributed to its general effect upon the system, but this is erroneous. Röhrig found that, when administered to rabbits, it had a very evident effect upon the pregnant uterus, throwing it into a tetanic contraction. The action was evident after destruction of the spinal cord. The plant causes great irritation and inflammation, whether applied to the skin or taken internally. The symptoms are excruciating pain, vomiting, and diarrhœa, and the person dies in a kind of collapse.
In a case in which the author was engaged some years ago, a woman, pregnant by a married man, took an unknown quantity of infusion of savin tops. She was violently sick, suffered great pain, with diarrhœa, and died in about 26 hours. The pharynx was much reddened, and the gullet even congested; the stomach was inflamed, and contained some greenish matter, in which the author was able to detect savin tops, as well as to separate by distillation a few drops of a strong savin-like smelling oil. The time which would elapse between the swallowing of the poison and the commencement of the pain was an important factor in this case, for the man was accused of having supplied her with the infusion. From the redness of the pharynx, and, generally, the rapid irritation caused by ethereal oils, the author was of opinion that but a few minutes must have passed between the taking of the liquid and the sensation of considerable burning pain, although it is laid down in some works, as for example Falck’s Toxicologie, that commonly the symptoms do not commence for several hours. Symptoms which have been noticed in many cases are—some considerable irritation of the urinary organs, such as strangury, bloody urine, &c.; in a few cases vomiting of blood, in others anæsthesia, convulsions, and coma. Death may occur within 12 hours, or may be postponed for two or three days.
§ 608. Post-mortem Appearances.—More or less inflammation of the bowels, stomach, and intestinal tract, with considerable congestion of the kidneys, are the signs usually found.
§ 609. Separation of the Poison and Identification.—Hitherto reliance has been placed entirely on the finding of the savin tops, or on the odour of the oil. There is no reliable chemical test.
IX.—Croton Oil.
§ 610. Croton oil is an oil expressed from the seeds of Croton tiglium, a plant belonging to the natural order Euphorbiaceæ, growing in the West Indies. The seeds are oval in shape, not unlike castor-oil seeds, and about three-eighths of an inch in length. Both the seeds and the oil are very poisonous. The chemical composition of croton oil can scarcely be considered adequately settled. The most recent view, however, seems to be that it contains a fixed oil (C9H14O2) with certain glycerides.[620] On saponifying and decomposing the soap a series of volatile fatty acids can be distilled over, the principal of which are methyl crotonic acid, with small quantities of formic, acetic, iso-butyric, valeric, and perhaps propionic, and other acids.[621] The peculiar properties of croton are due rather to the fixed oil than to the volatile principles. The only officinal preparation in the British pharmacopœia is a “croton oil liniment,” containing one part of croton oil to seven of equal parts of oil of cajuput and rectified spirit.