Report of Thirty-two Cases of 
Poisoning by Locust Bark. 
BY 
Z. T. EMERY, M. D., 
ATTENDING PHYSICIAN TO THK BROOKLYN ORPHAN 
ASYLUM, AND TO THK GRAHAM INSTITUTE. 
REPRINTED PROM 
KI)e Neto York fftetifcal .TFnurnal 
for January 22, 18S7. Reprinted from the New York Medical Journal 
for January 22, 1S87. 
REPORT OF TIIIRTY-TWO CASES OF 
POISONING BY LOCUST BARK * 
By Z. T. EMERY, M. D., 
ATTENDING FUTSICIAN TO THE BROOKLYN ORPHAN ASYLUM, AND TO THE 
GRAHAM INSTITUTE. 
In the latter part of March of the present year there 
occurred a sudden outbreak of illness among the boys at the 
Brooklyn Orphan Asylum, which was found to be due to 
poisoning by chewing the inner bark of the locust-tree. 
The boys had obtained this bark from the yard, where 
the men had been stripping fence-posts. The quantity 
chewed or eaten—for some of them had swallowed their 
cuds as well as the expressed juice—varied greatly, according 
to the testimony of the patients; and if their statements arc 
to be relied upon, which I somewhat doubt, the severity of 
the symptoms was not always proportional to the amount 
chewed; as, for example, the severest cases were in those 
reported to have used only a moderate quantity, whereas 
some of the lighter cases were in those, especially among 
the older boys, who had partaken of a large quantity—of 
about the size of a man’s hand. 
For convenience of reporting, the thirty-two cases of 
* Read before the Medical Society of the County of Kings, Septem- 
ber 21, 1886. 2 
REPORT OF THIRTY-TWO CASES OF 
poisoning will be divided into three classes, according to 
the severity of the symptoms. 
Class A, Cases 1 and IT.—These were boys eight and ten 
years of age, well nourished and healthy. When I first saw 
them, which was about an hour after the first symptoms 
appeared, they were lying in a stupor, being aroused with dif- 
ficulty, or when vomiting and retching. Their extremities 
were cold and pulseless, the heart’s action was feeble and in- 
termitting, the pupils dilated, and their faces of a dusky pallor. 
They were vomiting large quantities of ropy mucus mixed 
with blood, and complained of pain in the epigastrium. The 
debility was so marked as to excite apprehension for the results. 
These patients were given subcarbonate of bismuth and 
brandy by the mouth, and morphine hypodermically. Sinapisms 
were applied over the stomach, and bottles of hot water along 
the extremities. They made good recoveries, and were dis- 
charged from the hospital in two days. 
Class B, Cases III to VIII.—These were boys from eight 
to twelve years old, and presented symptoms similar to those of 
the first class except as to severity. The pulse was feeble, the 
extremities were cool, the face was alternately pale and flushed ; 
the ejecta contained ropy mucus and blood. They were able to 
move about the room and make known their complaints vigor- 
ously. Their respirations were regular, while Ihose of the first 
class were irregular and sighing. These patients were given a 
mixture containing subcarbonate of bismuth ten grains;-tr. opii 
camph. one drachm, brandy one drachm, in aromatic water, 
after each vomiting. Sinapisms were also applied over their 
stomachs. Their improvement was rapid, and they were dis- 
charged in thirty-six hours. 
Class C, Casks IX to XXXIf.—This class of cases was of 
boys of the same age as the preceding class, and presented much 
milder symptoms—vomiting of ropy mucus without blood, pulse 
not affected, face flushed, complaint of dryness of the throat, pu- 
pils dilated, extremities natural, respiration regular. Treatment 
was the same as in the second class. They were discharged 
cured the following morning, with a dose of castor-oil to move POISONING BY LOCUST BARK. 
3 
the bowel?, ar.d forcible instructions not to eat of the forbidden 
bark. 
The symptoms of the foregoing cases were those of 
acro-narcotic poisoning, and lead us to the consideration of 
the chemical properties and physiological action of locust- 
tree bark, or Robinia pgeudacacia. The literature upon 
the subject is meager and disappointing. 
The root was examined by H. Reinsch in 1845, who 
found it to contain much albumin, tannin, sugar, starch, 
and other common vegetable principles, and robinic acid. 
Illasiwetz also obtained (1852) asparagin. Zwenger 
and Pronke (1861) obtained a yellow glucoside, robinin, 
which, on being boiled with acids, is resolved into sugar 
and quercetin. 
Three cases of poisoning in children were reported in the 
“Ann. de therapeutique,” 1860, p. 64, who had eaten the 
root by mistake. The symptoms were like those produced 
by an overdose of belladonna. All three recovered, while 
one, who was suffering from an attack of intermittent fever, 
had no return of the paroxysms. 
The bark of the root is said to be a tonic in small doses, 
and an emetic and purgative in larger doses; but I have 
been unable to verify the first and last statements from the 
literature of the subject, or from personal observation. 
There have been but three recorded cases of its poison- 
ous action, and the foregoing is offered with the view' of 
stimulating others to report their experience with the sub- 
stance. REASON'S WHY 
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