A pharmacological appreciation of Shakespeare's Hamlet : on instillation of poisons into the ear / by David I. Macht.

  • Macht, David I.
Date:
[1918]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: A pharmacological appreciation of Shakespeare's Hamlet : on instillation of poisons into the ear / by David I. Macht. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    certainly point to the prevalence of the belief in Shakespeare’s [167] times that the yew-tree was poisonous and may have well sug¬ gested to him its use in the play. Let us now inquire into what modern toxicology can tell us concerning the properties of taxiLs baccata. On the Toxicology of Taxes Baccata If we examine scientifically the literature on the subject of yew poisoning we shall be surprised to find abundant evidence as to the poisonous nature of the plant. Not only the berries but also, and to a greater degree, the leaves and the bark of taxus baccata have proved poisonous. The ancient authorities on the subject have already been cited; a considerable number of cases of poisoning are described by modern writers. Thus Falk “ has collected 32 cases of poisoning by taxiis baccata, nine of which resulted from eating of the red berries and 23 from the swallowing of infusions of the leaves. Twenty of the patients died, making the percentage of fatal cases 62-J per cent. Hurt reported the death of a child of three and a half years who swallowed a quantity of yew berries. New reported a case of poisoning in an insane patient who swallowed a large quantity of them. Taylor^® reports two cases of severe yew poisoning. Heffter describes a fatal case of poisoning in an adult; and other cases may be found cited in the toxicologi¬ cal reference works by Kobert,’® Kunkel and Blyth.^® The leaves of the yew were not infrequently employed to induce abortion. The chemistry of taxus baccata has been studied by the French toxicologist Marme,^^ who isolated an active principle with alkaloidal properties which he named taxin. This is an amorphous white powder having the empirical formula C37H52NO105 soluble in alcohol, ether and chloroform, insol¬ uble in benzene and slightly soluble in water. The substance melts at 82°C. and gives an intense purple-red color with H2SO4 and a reddish-violet color with Froehde’s reagent. The salts of taxin are freely soluble in water. Lewin gives the lethal dose of taxin for frogs as being from 50 to 70 mgms., and for cats as being from 30 to 50 mgms. The lethal dose for man is not given, but death has been reported to occur rapidly