which removes the saponin, thus rendering the nut harmless.
Certain domestic animals, however, seem to be able to eat the untreated
nut without suffering ill effects. [_Italics are by Dr. Deming.--Ed._]

Most of the saponins are markedly irritant to the mucous membranes. They
have an acrid taste and provoke a flow of saliva, nausea, vomiting and
diarrhea. If injected directly into the circulation they produce
hemolysis, diuresis and direct actions on the central nervous system
which may be rapidly fatal. Absorption after oral administration is so
poor that saponins produce only local effects. The toxicity of various
saponins is ten to a thousand times higher by vein than by mouth and is
generally proportional to the hemolytic action. Some saponins have a
different toxicity for different species.

In experiments with rats Hindemith found that the saponin from Aesculus
hippocastanum is not toxic in daily oral doses of 87.5 mg. per kg.
Nonhemolytic doses injected intravenously in cats have no effect on
respiration or blood pressure; hemolytic doses produce a sudden drop in
pressure owing to liberation of potassium from the _erythrocytes_. The
saponin increases the activity of the isolated frog heart, then stops it
in systole. In frog nerve muscle preparations of this saponin reversibly
interrupt stimulus transmission; recovery occurs upon washing.

For a general review of the literature you are referred to Bull. Sc.
Pharmacol. 47:290 (November-December) 1940, which is available at the
New York Academy of Medicine Library, 2 East 103rd Street, New York
City.

Sincerely yours,

[Signed]
BERNARD E. CONLEY, R. Ph.
Administrative Assistant.

BEC:nr

The Birth of a New Walnut Cracker

B. H. THOMPSON

The home of the Thompson walnut cracker is the home of the maker, on the
farm, five and a half miles northwest of Harrisonburg, in the Shenandoah
Valley of Virginia. I live in the upland area, 1,500 to 1,700 feet up in
the hills.

A man once said he killed two birds with one stone. I went him one
better in one instance. I went to the back end of the farm and picked up
all the walnuts and placed them on a pile, not too far from the house.
Then the squirrels came to help themselves. I got all the squirrels I
wanted to eat and those that got away retreated so fast they dropped
their walnut. Then I cracked what walnuts were left for cakes and candy,
which we all enjoy so much.

It was while crackin