3. All over America thousands of "tired business men," and school boys who ought to be tending to their baseball, have to spend weekends and holidays pushing lawn-mowers. If an acceptable ground cover could be found that would have to be mowed only half as often, or one quarter as often, or maybe only once a year, or even (glory be) not at all, what a saving of time it would be for good healthy sport and non-depressing exercise. There are many promising plants. _Pachysandra_ and _Vinca_, don't quite fill the bill but have their good points, such as growing in the shade. There is a little round-leafed plant common in Florida and, apparently, found in the north. There are many plants that could be grown experimentally in patches a yard square. Why have we so tamely limited ourselves to grasses and clover? What a chance for a man to immortalize himself by discovering variants for grasses and clover for lawns and thus become a benefactor to millions of lawn-mower slaves! [Footnote 31: (_See letter from the American Medical Association on next page.--Ed._)] COUNCIL ON PHARMACY AND CHEMISTRY of the AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION Office of the Secretary, 535 N. Dearborn Street, Chicago 10, Illinois January 5, 1949 Doctor W. C. Deming 31 South Highland Street West Hartford, Connecticut Dear Doctor Deming: This is in reply to your inquiry of December 28, 1948, regarding the toxicity of horse chestnuts. All six of the species of Aesculus which are native to the United States have been reported as poisonous, but specific references in the literature are infrequent. The species Aesculus hippocastanum has been studied and has been found to contain saponin, tannin, and the glycoside, esculin. Esculin is used in patent remedies in the form of ointments and pastes to protect the skin from sunburn. The saponin seems to be the toxic component. Fruit of the horse chestnut is rich in starch and oil and is a _valuable food for livestock_. The bitter taste of the nut is removed by alcohol extraction 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.