THE ACUTE TOXICITY OF TANNIC ACID ADMINISTERED INTRAGASTRICALLY.

The LD(50) +/- S.E. of tannic acid given orally to albino rats was found to be 2.26+/-0.083 g. per kg. body weight, which is higher than its apparent LD(50) when given per rectum. The immediate cause of death was respiratory failure preceded by convulsions when death occurred early and by hypothermic cachexia when death was delayed. Death was associated with a progressively developing hepatic necrosis and nephritis and a temporary acute gastroenteritis. It was accompanied by loss of weight and edema in many organs, evidence of stimulation of the spleen, adrenal cortex and testes, and atrophy of the thymus. Recovery in survivors was associated with a temporary increase in weight of the spleen and testes and persistence of loss of weight in the adrenal, pyloric stomach, and skin.