[4], [16], [53], [63], [73], [76], [81], [144], [161], [170], [203], [205], [211], [212], [213], [231], [252], [264].
Azalea (Azalea sp.). A suspected case of poisoning was recorded in the Journal of the Board of Agriculture in 1907. No British record of poisoning has been found. Various species of Azalea (A. pontica, A. indica, A. arborescens, A. nudiflora, etc.) are stated to be very poisonous to all animals which browse on them in the East. Cuttings should never be thrown down where they can be eaten by stock.
Toxic Principle. Little work has been done on these plants, but they are believed to contain Ericolin, Arbutin, and Andromedotoxin as in the case of rhododendrons (p. [47]).
Symptoms. Azaleas appear to be narcotic, and to produce symptoms resembling those caused by Lolium temulentum (Cornevin).
REFERENCES.
PRIMULACEÆ.
Scarlet Pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis L.). Unless it occurs in very considerable quantity this little plant is unlikely to be eaten to an extent sufficient to cause definite poisonous symptoms, as it is a cornfield weed. It may be taken, however, if animals are allowed to run over stubble. Sheep are said to refuse it in general, but have died from eating it (see below).
There seems to be no doubt that if eaten in sufficient quantity it has a poisonous action, having an irritant action on the digestive tract—the intestines—as well as producing narcotic effects. Strasburger notes it as “slightly poisonous”; Bailey says “a dog is stated to have been destroyed by making it swallow three drachms of the extract,” while according to Hyams the fluid extract in 4 drachm doses is fatal to dogs (the size of the dog is not mentioned!); at the Veterinary School at Lyons horses were intentionally killed by administering a decoction of the plant; in America Chesnut notes it as suspected of killing a horse; Ewart says it “has been reported to render the chaff from oat crops infested by the weed unpalatable to stock”; and Gilruth states that a year or two ago it was responsible for the death of a large number of sheep in Victoria, apparently acting as a narcotic poison (Amer. Vet. Rev., July, 1913, p. 383.). On the Pacific coast the plant is known as “Poison Weed.” Grognier and Orfila are stated to have put its poisonous properties beyond doubt.
Toxic Principle. The plant contains the glucoside Cyclamin (C20H34O10), and a saponin-like substance (Pammel). Van Rijn says it contains two glucosides.