The physiological action of the oil and seeds of Croton elliotianus from British East Africa / by J. Theodore Cash and Walter J. Dilling.

  • Cash, John Theodore, 1854-1936.
Date:
1914
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The physiological action of the oil and seeds of Croton elliotianus from British East Africa / by J. Theodore Cash and Walter J. Dilling. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

    22/50 (page 254)
    decreased until a little fibrous nodule less than a lemon pip in size was all that remained eighteen weeks after the injection. This finally dis- appeared. The animal remained in excellent condition throughout, its weight increasing by 459 grams during the observation. From these observations it is evident that whilst the oil of Croton Elliotianus does not produce local irritation when applied to the skin, thereby differing from the oil of Croton Tiglium, it does like the latter, even when largely diluted, occasion a slowly developing suppurative process independently of microbic action. The extent of reduction in the number of colored corpuscles as well as the degree of leucocytosis appear to bear a direct relation- ship to the amount of oil introduced into the subcutaneous tissue. Although neither appearance nor reaction of the urine in the first three observations had revealed the presence of blood pigments it seemed probable that the large reduction in the number of the colored elements of the blood following hypodermic injection of the oil of Croton Elliotianus would, at least occasion- ally, be followed by elimination of blood pigment. There was also the further possibility of nephritis owing to irritation during elimination. Two observations were therefore made in which the urine, before and after injection, was repeatedly examined by the spectroscope, simultaneous blood counts being recorded, one of these in harmony with the first three was altogether negative in its results, the second—which is tabulated below'— w^as positive. This observation indicates a marked reduction of erythrocytes and a coincident appearance of haematoporphyrin with a trace of albumen in the urine. The nature of the pigment as well as the small amount of albumen eliminated and the very short duration of albuminuria, with total absence of tube casts, seem to indicate that the conditions observed are referable to haem- olysis rather than to the induction of nephritis.