POISON-GAS.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 203, 25 August 1916, Page 4 (Supplement)

POISON-GAS.

MADE FROM SEEDS FOUND IN MEXICO. The asphyxiating and tear-producing ga.-je.s used in the war are made from sabadilla, a product exported only from Venezuela, says an American Consular report from that country. Sabadilla, meaning barley, is the name of a plant of the lily family, bo-tanic-ally called Voratrum sabaddla Reiztus, occurring only in Venezuela and Mexico. The highly poisonous seeds have long Ivcn used in medicine, and while nothing is known in Venezuela as to tho use of the alkaloid product of the -cods in the making of war gases, it is a fact that sabadilla dust irritates eyes, throat, and the noso so much that laoflurors working with it are obliged to wear protecting masks. The first exportation from Venezuela was made to Hamburg twenty-five or thirty years ago. The foreign demand hflP never amounted to more than S(X)D sacks annually. Sabadilla seods and all preparations compounded from them have been declared contraband by England. Tho suhstamw, produced from ilrseeds are cavadine, or crystalVsed vor.itrif. an alkaloid, veratn'c acid, and sabndnllinc, which : s an n.morphus, pleasant-smelling alkaloid, that v.r.color. itc the bontnig of tho heart. .Tones: "What's tho best cure foi " mthache?" Smith : "Walk about ha'f way to the nearest dentist."