THE EFFECTS OF INTRAVENOUS INJECTIONS OF DICHLOROETHYLSULFIDE IN RABBITS, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO ITS LEUCOTOXIC ACTION

1. The lethal dose of dichloroethylsulfide (distilled from a German yellow cross shell), when injected intravenously into rabbits is from 0.005 to 0.01 gm. per kilo. 2. Rabbits dying within 24 hours showed extensive hemorrhages, and edema of the lungs. 3. Severe lesions of the intestinal tract were present in about one-third of the rabbits. 4. Dichloroethylsulfide injected intravenously is specifically poisonous for the hematopoietic tissues. Severe lesions are caused in the bone marrow, and the number of circulating leucocytes is markedly deminished. In animals surviving the injection regeneration occurs. The granular cells of the bone marrow seem to be more sensitive than the lymphoid cells and the erythrocytes. 5. The effect upon the blood and hematopoietic tissues is not due to the admixture of nitrobenzene or chlorobenzene in the shell filling. Injection of these substances in animals in amounts many times greater than the total dose of dichloroethylsulfide used produced no changes in the blood picture, and the subsequent injection of dichloroethylsulfide free from these solvents produced a typical reaction.