The acute toxicity and lethality of chloroformethanol extract of the cashew kernel was determined using the modified method of Lorke,[15]. The test was divided into two stages. In stage one, twenty-seven (27) randomly selected adult mice were divided into nine groups, three per group (n=3) and received 10, 100 and 1000 mg/kg body weights of the ethanol, middle layer and chloroform extracts respectively and the signs of toxicity and number of death for a period of 24 hours. After 24 hours observation, the doses for the second phase were determined based on the outcome of the results of the first phase. Since there was zero death, a fresh batch of animals was used following the same procedure in phase 1 but with higher dose ranges of 1900, 2600 and 5000 mg/kg body weights of the extract. The animals were also observed for 24 hours for signs of toxicity and possible number of death. The LD50 was calculated as the geometric mean of the high
non-lethal dose and lowest lethal dose [15].