The toxicity to rabbits and some other animals of the fluorofatty acid present in the seeds of Dichapetalum toxicarium

The long‐chain fluorofatty acid in the seeds of Dichapetalum toxicarium , “ratsbane”, is toxic to rabbits in a dose of 1 mg./kg. Death is delayed and usually occurs quite suddenly, probably due to a heart attack. Wild as well as tame rabbits, are poisoned by a bait of the ground seeds mixed with oats, and are more easily killed than sheep; in this respect the compound is a better rabbit poison than sodium fluoroacetate. Some toxicity figures have been obtained for other animals. Deaths in sheep may be delayed up to 5 days, a fact which could explain some casualties of unknown cause in Africa.