Lolium

[Mr. A. S. Wilson, in Transactions of the Edinburgh Botanical Society for 1874, declares that the poisonous properties of the grains of this grass are due to the ergot (Claviceps purpurea) which so commonly infests it, and that when care is taken to select perfectly sound kernels they prove absolutely inert. Note also the cases of poisoning have been more frequently observed in low wet districts and during wet seasons. The symptoms, especially those of paralysis, may be compared with Secale cornutum (Claviceps purpurea). -T. F. A.]

Lolium temulentum, L.

Natural order , Gramineæ.

Common names , Darnel; (G.), Taumel-lolch; (Fr.), L'ivraie énivrante.

Preparation , Trituration of the seeds.

Authorities. ( Nos.

1 to 9, from Roth, Mat. Med .).

1 , Wierius, de Præstig. Dæmon., iii, viii; 2 , Seeger, Diss. de lolio tem., 1710; 3 , Burghard, Med. Siles. Sat., 1; 4 , Parmentier, Recr. Phys., ii, 1774; 5 , Scholer, Actæ erud., Lipsiens, 1723; 6 , Perleb, Trad. Allem. de De Candolle; 7 , Berliner Staats-zeit., 1821; 8 , Hertwig, Neue Bresl. Samml.; 9 , Ruspini, Journ. de Chim. Méd., 1844; 10 , Schneider, Med. Annals, 1817, (Frank's Mag., 4, 932), poisoning of thirty-nine children and several adults; 11 , Cordier, N. J. de Méd., 1819 (Frank's Mag., 2, p. 151), in order to ascertain whether the seeds were really poisonous I gathered a quantity, crushed them and made meal into bread, and ate of it; 12 , Zeppenfeld, Kasp. Woch., 1835 (Frank's Mag., 1, 247), poisoning of a large number from eating soup containing the grains; 13 , Billig, Zeit. f. Hom. Klinik, 3, 75, poisoning of a family by bread made from the flour; 14 , Deut. Zeit. Staats-arz., 1864, p. 95, poisoning of a family by bread containing the flour; 15 , Eitner, Month. J. of Med. Sc., 1850, p. 180 (Casp. Woch., 1850), the laborers on a farm were poisoned by barley meal, cooked; every tenth grain in the barley was darnel; 16 , same, effects of chewing some of the dry grain; 17 , same, general effects; 18 , symptoms, Hom. Times, 2, 558.

MIND

• Emotional.
• Mania, 10.
• Slight delirium, 1.
• Depressed spirits, 18.
• Depression, great, of spirits, 18.
• Anxiety, 3, 5.
• Anxiety and general uneasiness, 15.
• Intellectual.
• Mental power blunted, 11.
• Comprehension difficult, with distraction of mind, 11.
• Comprehension very slow, 13. [10.]
• Loss of judgment, 3.
• Loss of understanding, with convulsions, 4.
• Confusion of ideas, 18.
• Confusion of sense in many cases, but not the most complete delirium, 10.
• Distraction of mind, 11.
• Distraction of thought, 18.
• Stupefaction, 10.

HEAD

• Confusion and Vertigo.
• Confusion of the head, 14, 16.
• Vertigo, 1, 2, 7, 10 , etc.
• Vertigo and sticking in the head, 13. [20.]
• Vertigo so violent that the eyes had to be kept closed, 13.
• Dizziness, 14.
• Dizziness, nausea, and loss of speech, 6.
• Giddiness, 18.
• Intoxication, 3.
• Intoxication and dizziness, 4.
• General Head.
• Heaviness of the head, 14.
• Heaviness of the head, accompanied with a seated pain, chiefly at the forehead, 2.
• Pain in head during a whole day, 18.
• Pain and heaviness in the head, 10. [30.]
• Headache, 7, 15.
• Sticking in the head, 13.
• Violent sticking in the head, especially in the forehead and temples, 13.

EYE

• Pupils greatly dilated, 10.
• Vision uncertain, 11.
• Indistinct vision, 18.
• Dimness of vision, 11, 18.
• Obscuration of sight, 2.
• Blindness, in some cases, 10.
• Scintillation before the eyes, 7.

EAR. [40.]

• Deafness in some cases, 10.
• Noise in the ears, 7.
• Tingling in the ears, 3.
• Roaring in the ears, 10.
• Roaring and tingling in the ears, 2.
• Noise in the ears, like a constant sound of drums and cymbals, 2.

NOSE

• Epistaxis, 7.

FACE

• Faces very red and hot, 13.
• The faces of some were pale, of others red and puffy, 12.

MOUTH

• Tongue.
• Tongue first white, then black, 7. [50.]
• Tremulous tongue, 2.
• General Mouth.
• A feeling of burning in the mouth and throat, 6.
• Speech.
• Speech difficult, 18.
• Speech very difficult, 18.
• Many could not speak at all, or very imperfectly, 10.

THROAT

• Difficult deglutition, 3.
• He can neither swallow, nor pronounce a whole word, 2.

STOMACH

• Appetite.
• Loss of appetite, 11.
• Want of appetite, 2, 18.
• Eructation.
• Eructations with a peculiar disagreeable taste, 11.
• Nausea and Vomiting. [60.]
• Nausea, 10, 13, 14.
• Slight nausea, 8.
• Sickness, 18.
• Disposition to vomit, 3, 18.
• Disposition and efforts to vomit, 18.
• Woke from sleep with some effort to vomit, 11.
• Vomiting, 5, 7, 10 , etc.
• Sometimes manifested by nausea, vomiting, inflammatory affection of the gullet, stomach, and bowels, and febrile action, 17.
• Vomiting; the darnel bread is especially rejected, with much colorless mucus, 18.
• Repeated vomiting, 14. [70.]
• Vomiting about every half hour all night of portions of bread with colorless mucus, which left a disagreeable taste in the mouth, 11.
• Violent vomiting, 13.
• Hard, fatiguing, watery vomiting, 2.
• Stomach.
• Uneasiness in epigastrium, with eructations of peculiar taste, 18.
• Pain at the stomach, 2.
• Pains in the stomach, especially a pressure in the pit of the stomach and abdomen, 10.
• Violent pain in the stomach and abdomen, 13.
• Pressure at the stomach, 7.

ABDOMEN

• Distension of the abdomen, 14.
• Severe colicky pains, 18.

STOOL. [80.]

• Severe purging, 18.
• Diarrhœa, with great colic, 13.
• Diarrhœa, or else obstinate constipation, 7.

URINARY ORGANS

• Copious micturition, 2.

RESPIRATORY ORGANS

• Difficult breathing, 2.

CHEST

• Sticking pains in the sides, 10.

PULSE

• Small, irregular pulse, 15.

EXTREMITIES IN GENERAL

• His gait was unsteady, with trembling of all his limbs; he was unable to hold a glass of water in his hand, 11.
• Trembling of the limbs, 7, 12.
• Spasmodic motions of the arms and legs, 13. [90.]
• Loss of power in the extremities, 10, 14.

SUPERIOR EXTREMITIES

• While attempting to write the hand refused its service and he became stupid (appesanti), 11.

INFERIOR EXTREMITIES

• Objective.
• As soon as he attempted to rise from a seat he began to stagger, so that he was obliged to steady himself in walking about the room, 13.
• Staggering about the room, with pale distorted features, 13.
• Subjective.
• Great pain and tightness in the legs, especially the calves , extending to the ankles, with redness, swelling, and itching of the skin, 18.
• Legs excessively tight and painful, swollen and inflamed, and itch much for nine days, followed by a small collection of gelatinous fluid inside foot, terminating in gangrene, followed by sphacelus, 18.
• Pain and tightness in calves of legs, 18.
• Violent pain in calves of legs, as if bound with cords, 18.

GENERAL SYMPTOMS

• Objective.
• Trembling, 15.
• General tremors (Suger), 18. [100.]
• His whole body trembled, 2.
• Universal convulsive trembling, with drowsiness, and marked coldness of the limbs, 9.
• Spasms, 5.
• Paralysis, 18.
• Great depression, 18.
• General lassitude, 5.
• General weakness, 11.
• Great weakness, 14.
• Excessive weakness, 11.
• So weak and exhausted that he could scarcely talk, 11. [110.]
• Debility, 18.
• General debility, 1, 2.
• General physical prostration, 7.
• Prostration of strength, trembling, 18.
• Was obliged to sit down and rest the head on a table, 11.
• At other times there are languor, cramps, tremors, paralysis, apoplectic attacks, delirium, and death, sooner or later, according to circumstances, 17.
• Restlessness, 18.
• General restlessness, 2.
• General uneasiness, 18.
• The noxious qualities of darnel grass partake more of the narcotico-acrid than narcotic character, 17.
• Subjective. [120.]
• Torpor, 11, 18.
• For some hours, more or less unfit for work, 15.
• General malaise, for several days, 6.
• So ill as to be for some time unfit for their work, 15.
• General sick feeling, 11.
• The action of darnel is somewhat analogous to that of ergotized wheat; and both are apt to occur in very wet seasons, 17.

SLEEP

• Drowsiness, 2, 5.
• Sleep, 1.
• Sleep unusually heavy, 13.
• Somnolency (Suger), 18. [130.]
• Sopor, 10.

FEVER

• Great internal chilliness, 13.
• Cold rigors all over, especially in limbs, 18.
• Coldness of the extremities, 3, 10.
• Fever, 10.
• Cold sweat, 2, 3.