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A GUIDE TO THE POISONOUS PLANTS AND

WEED SEEDS OF CANADA AND THE

NORTHERN UNITED STATES

A Guide to the Poisonous Plants and

Weed Seeds of Canada and the

Northern United States

By

R! E. Thomson, B.A., F.R.S.C.

Associate Professor of Phanerogamic Botany
and

H. B. Sifton, M.A.

Assistant Professor of Research in Botany

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO IM<
1922

COPYRIGHT, CANADA, 1922,

BY THE
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS.

PREFACE

The primary reason for this publication is the long-
felt need of a text-book to accompany the course on pois-
onous plants which is given the students of the Ontario
Veterinary College. This object has been kept constantly
in mind. It has necessitated the preparation of a book at
a price within the reach of every student, and yet one
that contains in easily available form an up-to-date
knowledge of our common poisonous plants, the charac-
teristics by which they may be recognized, the symptoms
produced by them and the remedial treatment required.
It is hoped that the book will also prove useful to the
veterinarian who is in practice, the farmer, the stockman
and, to a more limited extent, the medical practitioner
and the public generally.

In arranging the work, a departure has been made from
the usual practice. To facilitate the determination of the
plant responsible in a given case of poisoning, the book
has been divided into four sections. In the first three
are included the plants that are mainly responsible for
fatalities among animals. These are grouped on the basis
of their source in the animal's feed, whether found in hay
(Section I), in pasture (Section II), or in concentrated
feedstuffs (Section III). A word may be added regarding
Section III, since so far as the authors are aware this i?
the first time that the importance of poisonous plant con-
stituents in concentrated feedstuffs has been given recog-
nition in a text-book. Micro-analytical methods have
lately been extended to determine the presence in such
feedstuffs of poisonous material that eludes the ordinary

chemical analysis. As a result, it has been found that
poisonous seeds in injurious quantities have been included
with great frequency in our commercial feeds, giving rise
to fatalities and disease, the cause of which was hitherto
unsuspected. The loss in Canada has been so great that,
after thorough investigation, the Department of Agricul-
ture has designed a new feedstuffs act with a view to its
prevention, and established a micro-analytical laboratory
for the enforcement of the statute. In the fourth Section
are grouped the plants that, although poisonous, rarely
cause the death of animals. It comprises by far the larg-
est number, including some that are the source of medic-
inal drugs, others that have large amounts of virulent
poison, and many that are poisonous only if taken in
quantity — all not sufficiently attractive to animals to be
the source of much danger. Previously considerable con-
fusion resulted from bulking, without discrimination, all
the plants that contain poison. It is hoped that the
arrangement followed in this book will be found of prac-
tical value, by avoiding this difficulty and rendering the
determination of the plant easier. The medical profes-
sion should find Section IV of most interest since the
plants that are mainly responsible for poisoning in man
are collected here. (See p. 109.)

The illustrations are from photographs and drawings
made especially for the book. By means of these and by
the classification into the groups above referred to, it
should be possible for an amateur to identify the plant
responsible in an ordinary case of poisoning. No key
based on botanical characters has been included, since
such a key would be impracticable because of confusion
with the numerous non-poisonous forms. At the end of
the book, however, a "symptoms" key has been added.
Such a key cannot, in the present state of our know-
ledge, be made precise. Its purpose is merely to facili-

tate diagnosis by suggesting the plants that should be
looked for when certain symptoms are observed and plant
poisoning is suspected.

A word may not be inopportune on the need of re-
search on poisonous plants. The indefiniteness with
which many statements have had to be made and the
dearth of positive experimental work upon which to base
conclusions have been keenly felt in the preparation of
these pages. Two lines of attack are evident, one based
on the detailed chemical analysis of the poisonous plant,
the other on feeding experiments with the plants them-
selves. These two lines are complementary and both very
necessary. The toxic substance having been determined,
it is often at once evident what the chemical antidote
should be. Moreover, much is known or could be easily
learned of the conditions of its action. For example, how
much is immediately apparent when it is known that
prussic acid is the chemical responsible for Cherry or
Sorghum poisoning. Knowing the volatile character of
this toxic substance we can at once see why the dried
fodder is harmless. Again, when the chemical responsi-
ble for Hemlock poisoning was found to be polymerized
by heat much of the erratic character of the poisoning
in this case was understood. It was quite evident why
this plant was less dangerous in the heat of summer.
Still all the emphasis must not be placed on this line of
research, essential though chemical analysis assuredly is.
The constitution of a plant is exceedingly complex and
several factors may co-operate in producing the poison-
ous effects. As mechanical injury in the case of Skunk-
tail Grass opens the way for bacterial infection, so in the
case of Horsetail poisoning, it is quite possible that irri-
tation of the digestive tract by the indigestible silica may
pave the way for the attack of a chemically poisonous
substance. It is thus only by feeding experiments, ap-

preaching the natural conditions as nearly as possible,
that final and dependable results can be obtained. A
creditable beginning has been made both in the United
States and in Canada. Such work along physiological
lines should be continued as well as research on the pois-
onous plants from the chemical standpoint. This is the
immediate need. After proper antidotes and treatment
have been discovered, however, there still remain two
problems — one in connection with the utilization of the
highly complex organic products that some of these
weeds* contain, products that are very difficult to form
synthetically in our chemical laboratories; and the other
concerned with the elimination of the weeds themselves
from our grain fields, pastures, parks and ranges. The
importance of such work to the community at large war
rants a comprehensive plan of attack and ample govern-
ment support.

No bibliography has been compiled. This service has
been admirably performed in Pammel's "Manual of Pois-
onous Plants," and Long's "Plants Poisonous to Live-
stock," which should be consulted by everyone wishing to
make a more special study of the subject. References to
these books and the many publications of the various
agricultural departments and colleges will be made
throughout the work.

The authors wish to express their indebtedness to Pro-
fessor N. C. Hart, of Western University, and Miss M. V.
McCulloch, of the Botany Department, University of
Toronto, for contributions to the illustrations, and to
Miss Jane McGillicuddy for help in the preparation of the

*An industrial use has already been found for Wild Mustard,
Brassica arvensis, the seed of which is being separated from grain
screenings by special machinery and utilized on a commercial scale,
at the same time improving the screenings for feeding purposes.

text. Dr. C. D. McGilvray, Principal of the Ontario
Veterinary College, kindly consented to read the original
manuscript, and his suggestive criticisms have been much
appreciated.

R. B. THOMSON.

H. B. SIFTON.
University of Toronto,
January, 1922.

CONTENTS

PAGE

Preface • 5

List of Illustrations .- • • • 15

Section I — Plants Dangerous when Included in Hay and Coarse
Feeds

Fungi and Bacteria 18

Ergot

Forage Poisoning
Horsetail Family — Equisetaceae 27

The Horsetails — Equisettim spp.
Fern Family — -Filicineae 33

Bracken — Pteris aquiliiia
Grass Family — Gramineae. : : , 36

Skunk-tail Grass — Hordeum jubatum
Lily Family— Liliaceae 38

Swamp Camas — Zygadenus elegans
Pea Family — Leguminosae 40

Lupines- -Z upinus spp.
Sunflower Family — Compositae 45

White Snakeroot — Eupatorium urticaefolium

Section II. — Plants Dangerous in Pasture or on the Range

Grass Family — -Gramineae 46

The Sorghums — Andropogon spp.

Porcupine or Spear Grass — Stipa spartea

Needle Grass — -Stipa comata

Cornstalk Disease
Lily Family — Liliaceae 50

Death Camas Zygadenus venenosus

False Hellebore — Veratrum viride.

California Swamp Hellebore — Veratrum calif ornicum
Buttercup Family — Ranunculaceae 56

Larkspur — Delphinium spp.

Monkshood— Aconitum spp.

Pasque Flower — Anemone patens

12 CONTENTS.

PAGE

Rose Family — Rosaceae 63

Wild Cherries — Prunus spp.
Pea Family — Leguminosae 66

Stemless Loco Weed — Oxytropis spp., also known as
A ragallus

Loco Weed or Milk Vetch — Astragalus spp.
Heath Family — Ericaceae 71

Laurels — Kalmia spp.
Carrot Family — Umbelliferae 74

Water Hemlock — Cicuta spp.

Poison Hemlock — -Conium maculatum

The Water Parsnip — Sium cicutaefolium
Sunflower Family — Compositae 82

Ragwort — -Senecio Jacobaea

Sneezeweed — Helenium autumnale

White Snakeroot — Eupatorium urticaefolium

Section III. — Plants Dangerous in Ground Feeds

Grass Family — Gramineae 91

Darnel — Lolium temulentum
Pink Family — -Caryophyllaceae 93

Purple Cockle — Agrostemma Githago

Cow Cockle — Saponaria Vaccaria
Mustard Family — Cruciferae 99

Wild Mustard — Brassica arvensis

Tumbling Mustard — Sisymbrium altissimum

Field Pennycress — Thlaspi arvense

Wormseed Mustard — Erysimum cheiranthoides

Wild Radish — Raphanus Raphanistrum
Flax Family — Linaceae - 108

Flax — Linum usitatissimum

Section IV. — Poisonous Plants Which are Rarely Observed to Cause
Death in Animals

Fungi 109

Amanita spp.

Fly Agaric — -A manita muscaria

Death Cup — Amanita phalloides

Arum Family — Araceae 115

Skunk Cabbage — Symplocarpus foetidus
Jack-in-the-Pulpit or Indian Turnip — Arisaema tri-
phyllum

CONTENTS. 13

PACK

Lily Family — Liliaceae 117

Lily of the Valley — Convallaria majalis
Iris Family — -Iridaceae 118

Blue Fag — -Iris versicolor
Orchid Family — Orchidaceae 118

Lady slipper — Cypripedium spp.
Nettle Family— Urticaceae 121

Stinging Nettle — Urtica dioica

Slender Nettle — Urtica gracilis

Western Nettle — Urtica Lyallii

Smallest Stinging Nettle — Urtica urens

Wood Nettle — -Laportea canadensis
Pokeweed Family — -Phytolaccaceae 123

Pokeweed— Phytolacca decandra
Pink Family — -Caryophyllaceae 125

Bouncing Bet — Saponaria officinalis
Buttercup Family — Ranunculaceae 125

White Baneberry — Actaea alba

Red Baneberry — Actaea rubra

Cursed Crowfoot — -Ranunculus sceleratus

Marsh Marigold— Caltha palustris
Barberry Family — -Berberidaceae 130

May Apple — -Podophyllum peltatum
Poppy Family — Papaveraceae 130

Bloodroot — -Sanguinaria canadensis

Greater Celandine — Chelidonium majus
Pea Family — Leguminosae 131

Prairie Thermopsis — Thermopsis rhombifolia

Scotch Broom — Cytisus scoparius

Black Locust — Robinia Pseudo- Acacia

Clammy Locust — -Robinia viscosa
Spurge Family — Euphorbiaceae 134

Castor Oil Plant — Ricinus communis
Sumac Family — Anacardiaceae 134

Poison Ivy — Rhus Toxicodendron

Western Poison Ivy or Poison Oak — Rhus Rydbergi

Poison or Swamp Sumac — Rhus Vernix
Heath Family — Ericaceae 138

Fetter-Bush — Andromeda polifolia

14 CONTENTS.

PAGE

Leatherwood Family — -Thymelaceae 138

Spurge Laurel — -Daphne Mezereum

Leatherwood — Dirca paluslris
Potato Family — Solanaceae 139

Bittersweet — Solanum Dulcamara

Common Nightshade — Solanum nigriim

Three-flowered, Spreading or Prairie Nightshade —
Solanum triflorum

Black Henbane — Hyoscyamus niger

Thorn Apple — Datura Stramonium

Purple Thorn Apple — Datura Tatula

Tobacco Plant — -Nicotiana tabacum

Wild Tobacco — Nicotiana rustica
Figwort Family — Scrophulariaceae 147

Purple Foxglove — Digitalis purpurea
Lobelia Family — -Lobelidceae 147

Indian Tobacco — Lobelia inflata
Sunflower Family — Compositae 149

Tansy — Tanacetum vulgare

Symptoms Key to the Principal Poisonous Plants 150

Glossary 155

Index . 161

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Figure Page

• 1 Formation of ascospores in Ergot — Claviceps purpurea 21

2 Heads of some grasses infected with Ergot — Claviceps purpurea 23

3 Field Horsetail — -Equisetum arvense 30

4 Bracken Fern — -Pteris aquilina 34

5 Skunk-tail Grass — Hordeum jubatum 37

6 Swamp Camas — -Zygadenus elegans 39

7 Common Lupine — Lupinus perennis 41

8 False Hellebore — -Veratrum viride 54

9 Larkspur — -Delphinium sp 57

10 Monkshood — -Aconitum napellus 61

11 Wild Black Cherry — -Prunus serotina 65

12 Stemless Loco Weed — Oxytropis Lamberti 67

13 Flower of Stemless Loco Weed 70

14 (a) Mountain Laurel — -Kalmia latifolia; (b) Pale Laurel — Kalmia

polifolia 72

15 Water Hemlock — Cicuta mactdata 75

16 Poison Hemlock — -Conium maculatum 80

17 Ragwort — Senecio Jacobaea 83

18 White Snakeroot — Eupatorium urticaefolium 87

19 Grains of Darnel — -Lolium temulentum 92

20 Purple Cockle — Agrostemma Githago 94

21 Seeds of Cow Cockle — -Saponaria Vaccaria 98

22 Seeds of Wild Mustard — Brassica arvensis 100

23 Seeds of Tumbling Mustard — Sisymbrium altissimum 103

24 Seeds of Field Pennycress — Thlaspi arvense 104

25 Seeds of Wormseed Mustard — Erysimum cheiranthoides 105

26 Seeds and broken pods of Wild Radish — Raphanus Raphani-

strum 107

27 Death Cup — Amanita phalloides Ill

28 Fly Agaric — Amanita muscaria Ill

29 Jack-in-the- Pulpit — Arisaema triphyllum 117

30 Showy Lady-slipper — Cypripedium hirsutum 119

31 Slender Nettle — Urtica gracilis 122

32 Pokeweed — -Phytolacca decandra 124

16 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Figure Page

33 Cursed Crowfoot — Ranunculus sceleratus 127

34 Clammy Locust — Robinia viscosa 133

35 Poison I v> — Rhus Toxicodendron 136

36 Bittersweet — -Solatium Dulcamara 140

37 Common Nightshade — Solatium nigrum 141

38 Black Henbane — Hyoscyamus niger 143

39 Jimson Weed — Datura Stramonium 145

40 Indian Tobacco — Lobelia, inflata 148

SECTION I

Plants Dangerous When Included in Hay and
Coarse Feeds*

Certain animals are poisoned by hay, straw, ensilage,
etc., when they could have pastured with impunity on
the fields where the feed was raised. There are several
reasons why this is so. In the first place, animals in pas-
ture have a better chance to pick their food. The plants
grow up separately and distinct from each other, and
there is usually enough wholesome feed to allow of a
choice. It thus often happens that a weed, refused
by an animal in pasture, may be eaten when cured
and mixed with the hay. This is especially so where the
amount or concentration of the ration is insufficient.
Again, certain weeds which are eaten with impunity in
pasture may cause trouble when eaten by an animal con-
fined to a non-succulent ration. The laxative nature of
the green grass and the freedom of exercise give the ani-
mal in pasture or on the range a much better chance to
overcome the effects of toxic substances. It may also be
pointed out that moulds and bacteria grow on forage
under conditions that would rarely if ever obtain in the
field.

17

18 HAY AND FODDER.

FUNGI AND BACTERIA.
ERGOT — Claviceps purpurea (Fr.) Tul.

The drug Ergot is believed to have been used by the
ancient Jews before the dispersal of their nation. It was
certainly used in medicine long before the details of its
growth were discovered. While it has for years been
known to be a fungous disease, there are still people who
are ignorant of the fact and believe that the "ergots"* that
grow on their grains or grasses are merely degenerate
kernels. Its history as a poison is also very old. Epi-
demics of ergotism were recorded in the time of Julius
Caesar, and since then the plague has recurred again and
again, usually following rainy seasons. In America it
has caused great losses. It is most dangerous in hay, but
gives trouble also in ground feeds.

Repeated small doses such as an animal may obtain
by eating infected hay or grain have a cumulative effect,
causing chronic ergotism. This disease is due
Chronic ^Q ^Q action of the drug on the nervous sys-
tem, and may become evident in either of two
forms, depending on whether the sympathetic or central
nervous system of the animal proves more susceptible.

In the gangrenous type, which is the more common, the
sympathetic nerves are affected. The arterioles, which
connect the arteries and capillaries of the body, are con-
trolled by sympathetic nerves. Ergot, by stimulating
these, causes a contraction of the arteriole walls and
produces two secondary effects. Since the blood can with
difficulty be forced through into the capillaries there is
much increased blood pressure in the heart and arteries,
and more important than this, the tissues, especially

*The word ergot is from the old French argot — a cock's spur.

FUNGI AND BACTERIA. 19

those of the extremities, cannot obtain a sufficient supply
of blood. This shows itself first in coldness, paleness and
loss of feeling in the extremities. Later the tissues die,
producing the condition known as gangrene. The ears,
hoofs and tail often slough off, and gangrenous sores may
form on other parts of the body. Gangrene may set in
very quickly if the quantity of ergot eaten is sufficient.
An extreme case has been recorded of a horse that was
given a feed of badly ergotized hay. At the end of the
first day the left hind leg was cold, stiff and moist with
sweat. In two days gangrene had commenced, and in
three the animal died — the skin and some of the muscles
of the affected leg having already sloughed off.

The second, or spasmodic type of the disease is de-
scribed as follows by Pammel : "Tonic contractions of the
flexor tendons of all the limbs, anaesthesia of the extremi-
ties, muscular trembling, general tetanic spasms, convul-
sions and delirium.'' In other cases Long states that
fatigue and cold sweat are followed by paralysis of the
tongue and muscles used in swallowing and later by gen-
eral paralysis. In both types of the disease the heart's
action is very slow, probably due to the stimulation of
the vagus nerve.

Very large quantities of ergot produce acute ergotism.

Dr. Winslow has investigated the symptoms in dogs, and

states them as follows: "Vomiting, profuse

salivation, dilation of the pupils, rapid breath-
Ergotism

ing and frequent pulse. The animal cries out,

has convulsive twitchings, staggering gait, paraplegia,
intense thirst and coma, terminating in death."

in addition ergot must be held responsible for many
cases of sporadic abortion, although this effect does not
follow in the earlier stages of pregnancy as often as is

20 HAY AND FODDER.

supposed. The action of the drug in contracting the
walls of the uterus is well known to physicians, however,
and is made use of in obstetrical work.

In cases of poisoning, tannic acid should be adminis-
tered to neutralize any ergot remaining in the aliment-
tary tract. For what has been absorbed
chloral hydrate and nitrous ether are the best
physiological antidotes. Warm antiseptic dressings
should be applied to parts threatened with gangrene.
Sometimes amputation of gangrenous ears or tail is neces-
sary.

The plant is a parasitic fungus belonging to the As-

comycetes or sac-fungi, so-called, because they bear their

spores in asci or sacs. Its threadlike hypha.3

rsot feed on and replace the cells in the seed of the

I' un°'us

affected plant, forming a hard, compact mass
known as the sclerotium, black on the surface and white
or slightly purplish within. The hardness and light colour
of the interior of the ergotized grain render it easily dis-
tinguishable from grains infected by smut or bunt, which
have a dark granular appearance. The sclerotium is con-
siderably longer than the uninfected grain, cylindrical or
slightly angular, with pointed ends. The mass of hyphae
composing it is concealed by globules of fat which must
be dissolved out if the microscopic structure is to become
evident.

This sclerotium is the wintering stage of the Claviceps.
In the spring it does not grow into a young plant like
the unaffected grain, since the germ has been destroyed
by the fungus, but if it secures lodgment in a d?np
place, produces here and there small raised spots which
develop into minute globular bodies with stacks. The
round heads change from white to a pinkish colour as

FUNGI AND BACTERIA.

21

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M *JJ — -73 */.
tf ^ 3 «

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22 HAY AND FODDER.

they ripen. Examined microscopically they are seen to
be covered with pores each leading to a flask-shaped
cavity in the body of the head. These cavities contain a
number of asci. In each ascus are eight threadlike
spores, the ascospores. These are discharged at the time
when the host plant is in flower. Falling on the young
ovary of the flower, the spore germinates producing
fungous filaments (hyphae) which enter, feed upon, and
displace the soft tissues, ultimately forming another
sclerotium. Before hardening, however, the fungus
passes through the Spho.celia stage, in which a sweetish
liquid called honey-dew is secreted, and numerous small
spores known as conidia are formed and cut off from the
free ends of the hyphae. These are carried to other plants
by insects attracted by the fluid, and so the Ergot is
spread throughout the field, since each spore which
reaches another young ovary may germinate and infect
that grain.

Rye is more often attacked than other cereals, and it
is from this plant that the ergot used in medicine is ob-
tained. Wheat is sometimes ergotized, however, and oats
containing the fungus have been reported. In addition,
this fungus, or possibly a closely related species having
the same effects, is found on a large number of
grasses of wide geographical distribution. The follow-
ing are species affected :

Agropyron Smithii Rydb. Western Wheat Grass

Agropyron repens (L.) Beauv Couch Grass

Hystrix Hystrix Millsp Bottlebrush Grass

Elymv.s canadensis L \

" robustus Scribn. & J. G. Sm. „... ,

" striatm Willd. I Wlld Rye

" virginicus L

FUNGI AND BACTERIA.

23

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24 HAY AND FODDER.

Phleum pratense L. Timothy

Poo, pratensis L. Kentucky Blue Grass

Poa annua L. Low Spear Grass

Calamagrostls canadensis (Michx.) Beauv.

Blue- joint Grass

Agrostis alba L Red Top

Glyceria fluitans (L.) R. Br. Floating Manna Grass.

Meadows infested with Ergot should not be cut for hay

or pastured after sclerotia have formed. By cutting

early, while the grass is in flower, the spread

of the disease can be checked. Wholesome

hay will also be obtained by this procedure.

FORAGE POISONING.

There have been very severe losses from forage pois-
oning in various parts of this continent, but although
much painstaking work has been done to
p°" determine the cause of the disease, the

results have been conflicting and unsatis-
factory. Horses and mules are the animals chiefly -at-
tacked, the disease following the feeding of mouldy silage,
spoiled hay, or immature mouldy corn. Cattle, sheep,
pigs and poultry are apparently very resistant if not
immune.

Many have considered that the disease is due to poisons
secreted by moulds on the feed. Several species of mould
grow commonly on corn and hay and a great deal
of work has been done with a view to determin-
ing the particular one responsible. Efforts toward this
end have not been successful. From experience with
numerous cases of poisoning, evidence against a certain
mould or group of moulds has been built up. Later,

FUNGI AND BACTERIA. 25

samples have been found which, though they contained
these moulds, were harmless. Such differential action
might possibly be accounted for by assuming the pre-
sence of different strains of the same species. An analog-
ous case has been described by Dr. M. Otto, who found
that while a strain of Aspergillus fumigatus from Italy
was markedly poisonous, another from Germany was not
at all, or only slightly so. The existence of similar strains
of other common moulds has not, however, been demon-
strated.

A more promising line of attack has been from the
bacteriological standpoint. The work was carried out at
the Kentucky Agricultural Experimental Station by Gra-
ham, Bruechner and Pontius. They isolated from mouldy
hay that had caused typical cases of forage poisoning, a
bacillus resembling B. botulimt.s,the organism of botulism.
Like the latter it is an anaerobic bacillus but grows in air
when accompanied by certain of the moulds usually found
on forage. Pure cultures of the bacillus, fed to horses,
mules and guinea pigs, produced typical cases of forage
poisoning, similar to those caused by the hay from which
it had been obtained. The disease is apparently caused
by toxins produced for the most part, before the forage
is eaten. In their experiments animals were poisoned
from a single barrel of the hay, by water which had been
poured over the forage and had dissolved some of the
toxin. Since the bacillus in question closely resembled
B. botulimis in appearance, anaerobic characters, and
physiological effects, these investigators made further
tests to determine, if possible, whether the two were
identical. Antitoxic serum prepared from B. botulinus
was procured and was found to produce immunity from
the effects of the bacillus cultured from the poisonous

26 HAY AND FODDER.

hay. It was further found that the hay itself, or rather
the water in which it had been steeped, was incapable of
producing forage poisoning in animals protected by the
B. botulinus antitoxic serum. Samples of food which had
produced forage poisoning in two other widely separated
parts of the country were found to contain the same
bacillus. It has thus been proved that one cause of forage
poisoning is a bacillus, and that this bacillus, if not B.
botulinus, resembles it so closely that morphological in-
vestigation has thus far disclosed no differential charac-
istics. Although the investigators hardly feel yet in a
position to state that it is the only cause, the results are
most promising and would appear to indicate the final
solution of this perplexing problem.

The first symptom noticed is usually weakness and stag-
gering, with a tendency to stumble over ordinary low ob-
jects. The muscles of the tongue and throat
become paralysed, and saliva drips from the
mouth owing to difficulty in swallowing. The animal
may become violent, rushing about, usually in a circle,
and crashing into objects that come in his way. He soon
becomes stupid and sleepy, and gradually loses control
of his muscles, leaning against the stall or standing with
feet spread apart. Paralysis increases, and after some
time he is unable to stand. Bladder and bowels become
partly paralysed and do not function unless artificially
stimulated. The animal may live from one to two weeks,
but in some cases death may take place within a day or
so from the time symptoms become noticeable. Dr. Mc-
Gilvray even states that animals may drop dead when
taken from the harness, without showing any previous
symptoms.

HORSETAIL FAMILY. 27

If treatment is begun soon enough, some of the ani-
mals may be saved. It is important to remove all traces
of the poison as quickly as possible from the
alimentary canal and to prevent access to
mouldy or spoiled feed of any kind. It is necessary also
to discontinue immediately the feed-stuffs in use and pro-
vide an entire change of feed, to avoid a further ingestion
of poisonous substance. A purge and nerve stimulants as
well as atropin for the circulation are recommended.
Haslam prescribes injections of arecolin or eserin and
pilocarpin followed by an antiferment and possibly an
aloes bolus. Where paralysis of the throat has begun
medicine cannot be given by mouth except by means of
the stomach tube, as it is almost sure to enter the air pas-
sages and cause suffocation.

HORSETAIL FAMILY— Equisetaceae.

THE HORSETAILS— Equisetum spp.

In ancient times the Horsetail family was one of the
most important. The fossil record shows that its mem-
bers formed a striking part of the coal forest swamps,
their jointed stems, two feet or more in thickness, rising
to heights of fifty to one hundred feet. To-day there are
only a few isolated species of a single genus, composed
of small plants ranging fronva few inches to a few feet
in height. Unable to keep pace with changing conditions
the race has been falling behind for millions of years.

Animals of the coal forests may have found the Horse-
tails edible, but in their present form some at least are
quite injurious. With regard to the nature
Examples and of ^e poison, there is some diversity of
°f °Pinion> although the old idea of the mec-
hanical action of silica, a common and some-
times prominent constituent of the Horsetails, has been

28 HAY AND FODDER.

practically abandoned, in favour of a chemical basis.
Aconitic acid was first found and suspected. Later work
disclosed an alkaloidal nerve poison, called equisetin,
which was proved to be present in one species at least, in
sufficient quantity to be dangerous to animals. Whatever
the nature of the poison, numerous instances of its harm-
ful effect have been recorded. It is especially injurious
to horses. In one much quoted case, nine horses, fed on
good hay, were bedded with swale hay containing the
Horsetail. They acquired the habit of eating their bed-
ding and as a result all soon showed symptoms of Equi-
setosis. The youngest, three years old, became unable to
stand, and died in a few days. Others, somewhat older,
became very ill, keeping on their feet with difficulty,
but finally recovered. One mare, much older than the
rest, showed only slight symptoms. Five other horses on
the same farm, fed in the same way, but bedded with
straw, remained in perfect health.

In this country the Field Horsetail, Eqnisetum arvense
L., causes most trouble because it is often found in hay,
especially from low lying fields. Animals may graze in
pastures containing Horsetail without harm, either be-
cause of the laxative effect of the green forage or because
they can pick their food better than when fed in the stall.
Grain-fed work horses seem little liable to attack, while
colts or young animals are chiefly affected. Cattle eat the
Field Horsetail without apparent harm, although other
species in Europe are said to be poisonous to them. The
effect of Horsetail on sheep is doubtful.

A noteworthy indication of incipient Horsetail poison-
ing is the development of a depraved appetite, the animal
often eating its bedding with Horsetail in it
in preference to good hay or even grain. After
the disease develops the symptoms are quite as marked.

HORSETAIL FAMILY. 29

Diarrhoea and rapid loss of flesh are first observed, fol-
lowed by muscular incoordination. The animal sways
and staggers, finally becoming unable to stand. The tem-
perature is at first sub-normal, but after the animal falls
its struggles produce a fever. The appetite usually re-
mains good throughout, but weakness increases and
death may follow from exhaustion due to the continued
struggles to rise. The circulation is poor, as shown by
coldness of the extremities and paleness of the delicate
membranes of the mouth, nostrils and eyes. The disease
can be distinguished from bracken poisoning which it
somewhat resembles, by the constipation and redness of
the eyes that accompany the latter. (See p. 33.)

The treatment is as follows. Remove all hay contain-
ing Horsetail and administer a purge. Rich and Jones
recommend a pill of one ounce Barbados
aloes, one or two drachms of ginger and
enough soft soap to bind the powder together. If these
are not available, a quart of linseed oil may be used as
a substitute. A teaspoonful of nux vomica added to the
grain ration three times daily helps to relieve the mus-
cular trouble. It is important to avoid exciting the ani-
mal, and to keep him on his feet. If he seems likely to
fall he should be supported in slings — arranged to press
very lightly on the abdomen when he is standing but to
give support as soon as the least bending of the legs takes
place.

The Field Horsetail thrives best in fairly light sandy
soil, wet, or at least moist for a considerable part of the
season. Other species live partially submerged
The Plant jn ponds Qr streams. There is a perennial root-
stock — a horizontal stem running beneath the surface of
the ground. This rootstock is jointed and branched, the

HAY AND FODDER.

Fig. 3. — Field Horsetail — Equisetum arvense.

a Ordinary, green, summer form, with whorls of simple branches.
6 Brown, spring iorm, bearing cones and attached to an under-
ground stem, with a food-tubercle.

c A branch of the "bushy" type, with many secondary branches.
d Branch segments, with pointed teeth (leaves) at the tip, and
narrowed base, o, 6 and c about half, and d about twice
natural size.

HORSETAIL FAMILY. 31

branching providing an excellent means for the spread
of the plant. The ordinary aerial stems are branched or
simple, according to the species, and may be easily pulled
apart at the joints, which are sheathed by the united
bases of small pointed leaves. Stems and branches are
characteristically ridged and furrowed, this and the ease
with which the plant breaks at the joints, affording a
definite means of identification. The Horsetails contain
a large proportion of silica, which makes them harsh and
rough to the touch. This has given rise to the popular
name, Scouring-rush, for the Winter Horsetail, whose
stout unbranched stem is sufficiently hard to scratch
glass. The branched forms contain less silica, but still
sufficient, it was formerly held, to account for Horsetail
poisoning. Food manufacture is carried on by the green
stems and branches, the scale-like leaves being useless
in this connection. The spores are contained in cone-
shaped structures at the tips of stems. In Equisetum
arvense L. the stem that bears spores is brown and suc-
culent and takes no part in food production. It grows
and matures in early spring, living on food stored in the
underground parts during the previous year. In other
species the spores are borne on the ordinary green plant.
The cone is composed of a number of peltate or umbrella-
shaped hexagonal structures borne on short stalks. These
are the sporangiophores, each of which bears a number
of sporangia or spore-sacs, suspended from its under sur-
face. The outer coat of the green spores contained in
them is split into four ribbons which expand and contract
with the moisture changes of the air and give to the spore
mass an appearance of writhing life.

32 HAY AND FODDER.

Four species have been experimented with and found
to be harmful. One of these, Equisetum hyemale L., the
Scouring-rush or Winter Horsetail, can be dis-

tinSuished f rom. the other three bv the fact that
it has an evergreen stem. This is usually un-

branched and of considerable size, sometimes half an
inch or more in diameter and several feet high. The other
three species are all much branched. One, Equisetum
sylraticum L., is found almost exclusively in or at the
border of rather shady woods. It is a slender form with
characteristically leaning stem and gracefully drooping
whorls of branches. Another, Equisetum palustre L., is
practically confined to open wet places. It has rather
stout 4 to 7-angled, hollow branches. The above species
cause less trouble in this country than the fourth, which
is known as the Field Horsetail, Equisetum arvense, be-
cause of its usual habitat. This form, as stated above,
has separate fruiting stems which come up early in the
spring and bear the spore cones at their tips. Later the
green branched form appeai-s, no fruiting cones being
ever found on it. It is widely distributed and more abun-
dant than any of the other forms. It can be distinguished
from Equisetum palustre by its solid 3 to 4-angled
branches and by the larger cavity of its stem, this being
one-half to two-thirds of the diameter in Equisetum
t*e and about one-sixth in Equisetum palustre. From
Equine turn sylvaticum it is ordinarily distinguishable by
its much less abundant and less conspicuous secondary
branching. Great numbers of secondary branches do oc-
cur, however, on the Field Horsetail when its main stem
has been eaten or broken off. Then the whole aspect of
the plant is changed, and it assumes a low bushy form
that is even more distinct from the slender, graceful
woodland species.

FERN FAMILY. 33

FERN FAMILY— Filicineae.

COMMON BRACKEN— Pteris aquilina L.
The Bracken Fern grows commonly in pastures and
old hayfields, especially in shaded parts, and also in open
woods. It has long been suspected of containing a poison,
but definite proof was wanting until the publication in
1917 of the experiments of Drs. Hadwen and Bruce of
the Health of Animals Branch of the Canadian Depart-
ment of Agriculture. Their investigations have proved
that it causes the disease called "staggers" which has
given trouble to horse owners in British Columbia and
some of the western United States. The following quota-
tion from the work of these men will illustrate the extent
of the harm which may be done : "During the hard winter
of 1915-16" the mortality amongst horses in the Fraser
Valley and on Vancouver Island was very heavy. As an
extreme case we cite the following: In the little village
of St. Elmo, B.C., out of twenty-four horses owned by
eleven farmers, sixteen died of Bracken poisoning, four
recovered, and the balance (four) did not take the dis-
ease."

The symptoms of the poisoning were determined by
feeding experiments with hay to which a definite amount

of Bracken was added. No irregularity was
' noticed until after several weeks of feeding, the
first indication being generally an unsteady gait, accom-
panied by nervousness and constipation. Then the eye
became congested, and later there was constitutional or
systemic disturbance with manifest symptoms of in-
toxication. Increasing weakness finally rendered the
animal unable to stand, or even to lie in a natural posi-
tion. In this condition he showed great excitement and
usually battered himself up badly before death ensued.
The appetite was good throughout.

HAY AND FODDER.

Fig. 4.— Bracken Fern— Pteris aquilina. Rootstock and frond.

FERN FAMILY. 35

In rare cases horses have been known to show similar
symptoms from eating Bracken in pastures. Except in
the case of very greedy animals, they will not eat the
fern either in hay or pasture if a proper amount of or-
dinary feed is provided.

Drs. Hadwen and Bruce refer to the treatment recom-
mended by Dr. S. F. Tolmie of Victoria, late Dominion
Minister of Agriculture, who has had a great

ireatment , , ,. . .,, , lirt

deal of experience with such cases: Remove
all ferny hay and bedding. Administer a good brisk pur-
gative, such as Barbados aloes seven drachms, calomel
one drachm and ginger one drachm. Half-ounce doses
of potassium bromide twice a day in the feed or drink-
ing water. One or two drachms of potassium iodide
three times a day is recommended. Give medicine in the
feed or drinking water or with a syringe. Feed laxative
food such as bran mash and carrots. Give enemas if
necessary. When animal is very groggy place in slings
with extreme care, avoiding excitement as much as pos-
sible. ... In some cases cold packs to the head are re-
commended." In certain remarks for the farmer who
is unable to secure professional aid, the importance of a
warm, quiet stable and of guarding against excitement
is emphasized, and as an alternative purgative a quart
of raw linseed oil recommended.

The Bracken is of wide distribution, growing under a

variety of soil conditions, in both hemispheres. Its

slender, glossy, dark-coloured, underground

Description siem forms a tough mat exposed on plough-

The Plant *ng ^ut "De^ow ^ne ^eve^ °^ ^e £rass roots. It
gives off at intervals rigid erect stalks, two
to four feet high, bearing at their summits broad branch-
ing fronds. The firm, upright, rigid character of the leaf

3£ HAY AND FODDER.

stalk and the restriction of the foliage to its summit make
a Bracken plot look solid from above but like a minia-
ture open forest from within. In this respect the Bracken
is distinct from our other native ferns, and so its habit
forms an easy means of identification. At fruiting time
the sporangia are also of value for identification. They
are borne in a continuous line under the infolded margin
of the leaflets.

GRASS FAMILY — Gmmineae.
SKUNK-TAIL GRASS— Hordeum jubatum L.

Other Common Names : Squirrel-tail Grass, Skunk-
grass, Wild Barley, and improperly in the Prairie Pro-
vinces, Foxtail.

No poisonous compound is contained in this grass, but

it causes a great deal of trouble to horses, sheep and cattle

owing to its sharp awns, which break and

I * r *

jirni enter the mucous membranes of the mouth and
gums. Horses are troubled much more than
cattle, as their mouths are more tender. Inflammation,
ulceration and formation of pus follow, and in some cases
the gums are diseased to such an extent that the teeth
become loose and fall out. A quotation from Dr. S. H.
Johnson by Pammel, states: "I have seen lips eaten
through, and tongues eaten almost off by the grass."

The plant is .a biennial, or winter annual, growing in

waste places and neglected fields, along roadsides and on

the open prairie, especially on moist slopes and

on cut-over sloughs. Its fibrous roots form

compact, tangled masses. The stems are in clumps or in

compact formations, from six inches to two feet tall, with

slender leaves and dense fruiting spikes, turning a faded

GRASS FAMILY.

37

Fig. 5. — Skunk-tail Grass — Hordeum jubatitm.

8£ HAY AND FODDER.

yellow early in the season. Skunk-tail resembles or-
dinary Foxtail or Millet, but when the mature plant is
once seen it will be always recognized by its longer
slender awns which stand out conspicuously from the
head giving a fancied resemblance to a skunk's tail.
The spike is jointed, each joint having three flowers, the
centre one, only, fertile and producing a seed. The fruits,
which it sheds by breaking at the joints, are each accom-
panied by seven long, barbed awns in addition to the two
small bristles to which the sterile flowers are reduced.

The plant should never be allowed to seed, and great
care should be taken not to feed hay which contains
mature plants. When young it is harmless.

The awns of Common Barley, Little Barley, Hordeum
secalinum Schreb., and Wild Barley, Hordeum murinum
L., produce the same effects to a lesser degree.
These plants are closely related to Skunk-
Species ^a^ Grass. The two latter are weeds trouble-
some in the West.

LILY FAMILY— Lilidceae.

SWAMP CAMAS—Zygadenus elegans, Pursh.

Other Common Names: Smooth Camas, Cow-grass,
Green Lily.

Owing to its coarseness, this species is not eaten by

grazing animals to so great an extent as the Death Camas,

described later among poisonous pasture

Examples and plants (p 5Q) jt ig ^^ty poisonous,

Conditions of

Poisoning however, and western farmers have need

to be cautious in cutting hay from wet

meadows where it grows, for its seeds, which contain

most of the poisonous substance, are usually mature at

LILY FAMILY.

39

•

Fig. 6. — Swamp Camas — Zygadenus elegans.

40 HAY AND FODDER.

the time the hay is cut. One man, spoken of by Chesnut
and Wilcox, used hay cut from a low meadow as winter
feed for sheep. At the first feeding many of them be-
came sick, and the rest of the hay could not be used. Con-
siderable amounts of Swamp Camas were found in the
hay, and no other poisonous plants were present. In an-
other case six cattle were pastured on low, wet ground
and two of them died. The symptoms were practically
identical with those caused by Death Camas, and quanti-
ties of Swamp Camas were found in the stomachs.

Swamp Camas resembles Death Camas except that it
is considerably larger and coarser, and grows in more
The Plant swamPy situations. As stated above, the ef-
fects produced by the two species are iden-
tical. This plant is probably more dangerous in hay than
Death Camas, because it is larger and forms a greater
proportion of the feed.

PEA FAMILY — Leguminosae.
LUPINES — Lupinus spj>.

Other Common Names: Wild Pea, Wild Bean, Blue
Pea, Blue Bean, Pea Vine.

In the west, where Lupines are very plentiful, their
misuse as pasture and hay has been the cause of im-
mense losses. Chesnut and Wilcox have
Examples and enumerated a long list of casualties in

( auditions of ,, _-

Poisoning Montana. Two hundred sheep were being

moved, and were allowed to feed on a
patch of Lupine. By next morning one hundred of the
band were dead. Lupine hay was fed to one hundred and
fifty bucks and as a result of one feed ninety died. Three
two-year-old colts were fed ordinary hay most of the win-
ter and then ate Lupine hay for two days, when all died.

PEA FAMILY.

41

Fig. 7. — Common Lupine — Luirinus jterennis.

42 HAY AND FODDER.

In October, 1898, a snow storm covered the grass, and
out of a band of 2,500 sheep, 1,150 died from eating the
Lupines. During the winter of 1898-99 about 7,000 sheep
in Montana were poisoned by Lupine hay, and of these
over 3,600 died. Many more cases of a similar nature
are recorded, and the evidence leaves no room for doubt
as to the cause of death. In all cases the Lupines eaten
bore pods containing mature or nearly mature seed.

The experiments of Marsh, Clawson and Marsh, taken
along with those of other investigators, have established
the fact that poisoning in this country is due almost ex-
clusively to alkaloids, which are contained in all parts of
the plant, but are more abundant in the seed. The toxic
dose of these alkaloids is very nearly as large as the fatal
dose, and smaller quantities have little or no effect on the
animals. It thus happens that Lupines and Lupine hay
containing no seeds may be wholesome and satisfactory
as a feed, while plants with full pods are deadly poison.
It has been established that the poison acts on horses, pigs,
goats and cattle, as well as sheep. Cattle on the range
usually leave the pods and so are rarely poisoned, but
sheep eat them greedily.

The general symptoms of poisoning in the early stages
are cerebral congestion and great excitement: in experi-
Symptoms men^s w^n sheep this showed itself by their
rushing about and butting and pushing. Later
the movements become irregular and incoordinated, with
spasms and falling fits. When the animal can no longer
stay on its feet, convulsions like those caused by strych-
nin are often evident. The excretions of the kidneys are
increased and are sometimes bloody. The immediate
cause of death is usually respiratory paralysis, which or-
dinarily ensues in a half to one and a half hours. Some-

PEA FAMILY. 43

times in milder cases the animals live four or five days
In these cases the respiration becomes slow and laboured,
the pulse is weak and the animals fall into a state of coma.

In horses there are certain special symptoms: dullness,
contractions of the surface muscles, intestinal disturb-
ances, usually manifesting themselves in constipation, but
sometimes in diarrhoea. There is also a tendency to lift
the forefoot high in walking.

The results of the search for antidotes have not been

very satisfactory. Permanganate of potash has been

recommended, but is useless unless given very

Treatment

early in the course of the attack. Vinegar and

dilute sulphuric acid are also spoken of as chemical anti-
dotes. Hypodermic injections of such sedatives as mor-
phin or chloral hydrate are useful in controlling the con-
vulsions.

According to Marsh, Clawson and Marsh: "There
seems to be little doubt that, as in Zygadenus poisoning,
if sodium bicarbonate can be administered at intervals
frequent enough to catch the toxic principle as it enters
the fourth stomach, recovery may be aided. This is of
considerable theoretical interest, and the method might
be used in order to save an especially valuable animal,
but of course range animals cannot be treated in this
way."

In Europe a species of Lupine, Lu.pinus luteus, has
caused trouble, producing a disease called Lupinosis. In-
Lupinosis vestigation shows this plant to be much poorer
in alkaloids than our American species, and the
symptoms of Lupinosis differ from those described above.
There is loss of appetite, weakness and fever in the early
stages. Acute atrophy of the liver is usual, giving rise
to a yellow colour in the conjunctiva, mucous membranes

44 HAY AND FODDER.

and body tissues. In some cases the ears, eyelids, lips
and nose swell. In addition there is cerebral excitement,
gnashing of the teeth, pain in the posterior region of the
body, diarrhoea, and sometimes blood, bile and albumen
in the urine- This disease is supposed to be caused by
a substance to which the name ictrogen has been given.
It is believed that ictrogen is produced by micro-organ-
isms living on the Lupine leaves, and this theory is
strengthened by the fact that while Lupines in some fields
produce the disease, those of the same species in other
locations are harmless. Lupinosis is very rare in Am-
erica if, indeed, it ever occurs here. Dr. A. D. Knowles
of Butte, Montana, had cases where some of the symp-
toms were present in horses.

In eastern North America only a few species of Lupine
are found, L. perennis being most common, but in the
The Plant west ^ey are very plentiful. Rydberg lists
eighty species from the plains and mountains.
They grow most frequently on dry hillsides and are often
cut for hay. When fed to animals it is essential that no
seeds be included.

They grow in tufts from a perennial root, and are
easily recognized by the more or less wheel-shaped, pal-
mately compound leaves, of entire, oblanceolate leaflets-
The purple or whitish pea-shaped flowers are in loose
spikes. The keel of the flower is scythe-shaped and
pointed, and the filaments of the stamens are united to
form a complete sheath about the ovary. The anthers are
alternately oblong and roundish. The pod resembles
that of the pea, and is often knotted by constrictions be-
tween the seeds.

Lupines are easily eradicated by cultivation, but their
destruction in uncultivated land is impracticable where
they are present in quantity.

SUNFLOWER FAMILY. 45

SUNFLOWER FAMILY— Composite.

WHITE SNAKEROOT, Eupatoriuni urticae folium Reich-
ard, and its symptoms are described among the harmful
pasture plants, as it is in pasture that it causes most
trouble. Its poisonous properties are not destroyed by
drying, however, and the disease "trembles" is produced
by hay in which White Snakeroot is included. (See
p. 85).

SECTION II
Plants Dangerous in Pasture or on the Range

The plants in this division are more numerous than
those of the preceding, in spite of the facts to which at-
tention was directed. (See p. 17) . Several circumstances
are to be considered in this connection. Some poisonous
plants thrive in early spring and are shrivelled and gone
before the time for cutting hay arrives. Others lose much
of their poisonous character with maturity, and some
contain volatile poison which evaporates and is lost dur-
ing the curing of the hay. In addition to these there are
numerous poisonous plants which are never cut with hay
but are often found in pasture and eaten by animals with
fatal results.

GRASS FAMILY— Gramineae.

THE SORGHUMS— Andropogon spp.

The Sorghums are important forage plants and are
wholesome under most conditions. In certain cases, how-
ever, they develop hydrocyanic or prussic
Examples and add a mogt deadl poison Literature on

Conditions of ,, , .

Poisoning e sub.lect records many cases of sudden

and violent deaths. One example given by
Glover and Robbins will serve for illustration: "At
Brighton, Colorado, thirty-two cows, after being kept in
the corral over night, were turned into a field of Kaffir
Corn of not over two acres. . . . Twenty-one of them
were dead in half an hour, and four of the others were
badly affected."

46

GRASS FAMILY. 47

The formation of hydrocyanic acid is due to the action
of an enzyme on a glucoside, which resembles that found
in almonds. Neither the glucoside nor the enzyme is in
itself poisonous. The enzyme is especially active when
green sorghum is wilted, and the poison is said to be more
plentifully produced in stunted plants, or those of second
growth. When the Sorghum has been dried there is no
danger, hydrocyanic acid being very volatile, and the
enzyme responsible for its formation being in all prob-
ability destroyed by the drying.

The symptoms produced are very striking. Hydro-
cyanic or prussic acid is the most rapid poison known.

Even the dilute form found in these plants
Symptoms

causes symptoms m a few seconds, especially
when taken on an empty stomach. The animal becomes
giddy or staggers and falls. Heart action is slowed and
breathing laboured. Spasms and twitching of the mus-
cles are followed by numbness in the limbs, and finally by
delirium and death. Bloating is sometimes observed in
sheep and cattle, but is not always present. If only a
very slight amount of the poison has been eaten the
symptoms are less pronounced- Sorghum has, however,
been known to become so poisonous that a few mouth-
fuls eaten on an empty stomach would kill a cow in ten
minutes. An autopsy shows no pathological conditions,
but an analysis of the stomach contents of animals lately
killed reveals the presence of hydrocyanic acid. The
peach-like odour of the poison is usually quite noticeable.
Treatment is in most cases useless where any consider-
able amount of the poison has been ingested. The animal
should be placed with head raised, and, if pos-

Treatment

sible, in the shade. If bloating occurs ir
cattle the paunch should be punctured, a handbreadth in

48 PASTURE AND RANGE.

front of the hip bone. Injections of atropin sulphate
serve to keep up the heart action. Sugar renders the
poison inactive, and large quantities of corn syrup or
molasses have been given with benefit. Treatment sim-
ilar to that used for prussic acid poisoning in cyanide
works is also recommended. One ounce of sodium car-
bonate (washing soda), and one-half ounce of copperas,
each dissolved in a pint of water, should be kept on hand
in separate, tightly corked, glass bottles. The solutions
are mixed, and the mixture is administered at once. A
quart is sufficient for a cow and one-half pint for a sheep.
Sudan Grass, Sweet Sorghum, and Kaffir Corn are
varieties that have been found to produce death, and
great care should be taken in feeding these

The Plants , 0

as well as the other Sorghums- The Sorg-
hums are stout, broad leaved, annual grasses, ranging
from three to fifteen feet tall, and have been introduced
into this country as forage plants and for their seed. The
large flowering panicles of different varieties vary greatly
in shape. The spikelets are in pairs at each joint of the
slender rachis, and the seeds are large, rounded and
polished.

PORCUPINE OR SPEAR GRASS— Stipa spartea Trin.

Porcupine Grass has seeds which are admirably adapt-
ed for burying themselves in the soil. The fruit, where it
Harmful connects with the plant, has a sharp barbed
Effects point, and above this are numerous hairs point-
ing upward. When the seed falls with this
point on the ground it is gradually worked into the earth
by the movements of the hairs, due to moisture changes.
Considerable injury is done to sheep by seeds, which get

CORNSTALK DISEASE. 49

fast in their wool and work themselves into the flesh.
Long-haired shepherd dogs are also troubled in a similar
way, and when people walk through the grass the fruits
stick in their clothes and cause discomfort. If eaten by
stock they work into the tissues of the mouth and throat
and have even been known to perforate the walls of the
stomach and intestine.

The plant is found from Manitoba to British Columbia
and southward to Mexico. It is perennial, with stems
Th Pi- nt three to five feet tall, and with long, narrow
leaves. The narrow panicles are four to
twelve inches in length, twisted below and often bent
sharply- The base of the dark brown fruit is sharply
pointed and densely covered with hairs.

NEEDLE GRASS— Stipa comata Trin.,

is a close relative of Porcupine Grass and is quite often
found in prairie hay. Its fruits produce the same effect,
though to a somewhat less degree. If cut after the fruit
has fallen it forms good hay.

CORNSTALK DISEASE.

In parts of the United States, and to a lesser degree in
Canada, it is customary to gather the ears from the corn-
field, leaving the stalks standing. Cornstalk disease in
certain of such neighbourhoods causes the death of num-
bers of the cattle allowed to pasture on these stalks.

Alway and Peters investigated this disease in Ne-
braska. They obtained statements from 404 people in
one county who had lost cattle to the number of 1,531 dur-
ing the seasons of 1906 and 1907,. Their information
indicated that by far the greater number of deaths occur
during the first month of pasturing, and more than one-

50 PASTURE AND RANGE.

fourth during the first week. They found further that
the number of losses is not reduced by admitting the cat-
tle to the field for a short time only at first; also that a
supply of feed in addition to the stalks makes very little
difference. The further fact was established that animals
which have contracted the disease very rarely recover.

The cause is still a mystery. The trouble is believed
by many to be similar to forage poisoning, which comes
from eating mouldy and immature corn or other similar
fodder. There is a fundamental difference, however, in
the fact that cornstalk disease attacks cattle, while forage
poisoning is confined to horses and mules.

The danger seems to be obviated by cutting the corn-
stalks when ripe and shocking them. No remedy has
been found for the disease when once contracted.

LILY FAMILY— Liliaceae.

DEATH CAMAS — Zygadenus venenosus Kydb.

Other Common Names: Poison Onion, Poison Lily,
Poison Sego, Poison Camas, Hog Potato, Mystery Grass,
Alkali Grass and improperly Lobelia.

Early explorers in Western Canada learned of the
poisonous nature of this plant from the Indians, who had
suffered by mistaking its bulbs for those of
Poisoning Camas and Wild Sego, which they used
for food. People are still sometimes pois-
oned in the same way, but the chief harm is done to ani-
mals, especially sheep, on the western ranges. In early
spring before the herbage is plentiful, the succulent,
grass-like leaves look very inviting and are greedily eaten
by sheep in spite of their somewhat bitter taste. The
onion-like bulbs are equally poisonous, but are not pulled

LILY FAMILY. 51

up by the animals, except when a recent rain has soft-
ened the ground. Horses and cattle are affected by the
poison as well as sheep, but they rarely eat enough to
produce serious results. Soon after flowering the plant
dries up and in this condition is unattractive to animals.
The seeds are extremely poisonous and sometimes pro-
duce trouble when the plant is mixed with hay.

It has been established that the poisoning is due to
zygadenin, an alkaloid of which the leaves and bulb con-
tain about 0.6%, the root half as much and
Symptoms the flowers roughly 1.25%. The proportions
may vary in different localities. The first symptoms
noticed in sheep are uneasiness and erratic movements
with laboured irregular breathing. Frothing at the
mouth, nausea and regurgitation follow, often accom-
panied by spasms. In the later stages, if sufficient of
the plant has been eaten, a complete collapse ensues, the
animal lying stretched out as if dead, its shallow breath-
ing scarcely perceptible. Experimental evidence indi-
cates that death is due to a stoppage of the heart's action.
Very little digestive trouble is found in adult sheep, but
lambs wrhich acquire the poison with their mothers' milk
are attacked with enteritis and dysentery, usually dying
in a few hours.

Chesnut stated that both horses and cattle are some-
times killed. Pigs are said to eat the bulbs with

Animals . ., .<TT _,

\ffected impunity, and as a result the name Hog Po-
tato" has been popularly used for the plant.
Various remedies such as soda, salt, lard and fat pork,

have been recommended and used by stockmen, but with
unsatisfactory results. A solution of perman-
ganate of potash and aluminium sulphate gives

good results at all stages of the poisoning. It is a chemi-

52 PASTURE AND RANGE.

cal antidote, decomposing the poison that remains in
the alimentary canal. Whether it neutralizes that which
has been absorbed into the system is not apparent. It
has, however, led to the recovery of many sheep in which
the symptoms were far advanced. Five to ten grains of
each chemical dissolved in a pint of water is the dose for
a sheep. For horses, fifteen to twenty grains of each
should be used, and for cattle thirty to fifty grains- Great
care must be taken to have the potassium permanganate
completely dissolved. In the case of animals which are
prostrated a stimulant such as strychnin produces a
slight improvement, but if used alone will not effect a
cure. Diuretics, such as caffein or theobromin, are also
useful as a stimulant to the kidneys. Care should be taken
to keep the animal quiet.

Death Camas is a slender, light-green plant with nar-
row leaves, five to fifteen inches long, like those of com-
mon £rasses k^ more succulent. When young

Th PI

it is often mistaken for a grass, but may easily

be distinguished by the fact that there is no ligule where
the leaf joins the stem, and by its bulb, which is buried
two inches or more in the ground, and resembles a young
onion. The flower stem grows from five to twenty inches
high and has a raceme of rather small, yellowish or green-
ish white flowers at its summit.

There are several different species of Zygadenus which

grow in similar habitats to Z. venenosus. They all resem-

ble it and produce like effects. They grow abun-

Specie* dantly west of the Rocky Mountains, and in the

Prairie Provinces and neighbouring States. One

of the most common of these is Z. elegans. Pursh (p. 38) .

LILY FAMILY. 53

FALSE HELLEBORE— Veratrum twide— Ait.

Other Common Names: American White Hellebore,
Swamp Hellebore, Indian Poke, Devil's-bite, Meadow
Poke.

A European species of Veratrum is used as a drug, and

the American forms contain the same alkaloids. Most

cases of Veratrum poisoning are due to

Examples and overdoses in medicine, but both men and

Conditions of ... . . .

Poisoning animals have been poisoned accidentally

by the plants. One historic case has been
quoted many times in which a whole family was poisoned
by leaves that had been prepared as greens. Chesnut
states that on account of its acrid, burning taste, animals
do not like the plant, but that young ones sometimes eat
it with fatal results, and that chickens have been killed
by the seeds.

Veratrin, the chief poison, produces an intense burning

of the throat, and acts chiefly on the heart and spinal

cord, but produces also vomiting, purging

Symptoms , , .

and abdominal pain. The symptoms as
stated by Dr. Winslow are : "Salivation, vomiting or at-
tempts at vomiting, purging, abdominal pain, muscular
weakness, difficulty in progression, loss of power and
general paralysis, muscular tremors and spasms, and,
occasionally, convulsions. The pulse is unaltered at first,
but later becomes infrequent and compressible, and fin-
ally thread-like and running. The respiration is shallow,
the temperature is reduced, the skin is cold and clammy;
there is semi-consciousness, loss of sight and death from
asphyxia-"

54

PASTURE AND RANGE.

Fig. 8. — False Hellebore — Veratntm viride.

LILY FAMILY. 55

"Treatment," he says, "should be pursued with cardiac
and respiratory stimulants, such as amyl nitrate (by in-
„ halation), alcohol, strychnin, and atropin;

tannic acid as a chemical antidote* ; opium
to subdue pain, and demulcents to relieve local irritation
in the digestive tract. Warm water should be given to
smaller animals to wash out the stomach and assist vomi-
tion, and quietude should be enforced. In man, fatal pois-
oning is rare, since the drug is spontaneously vomited."

The plant is a coarse perennial from two to eight feet

tall. The leafy stem grows from a thick erect rootstock.

The large leaves are entire and oval in shape

The Plant

with conspicuous parallel veins. They have
sheathing bases, are smooth on top, hairy beneath and
sharply pointed at the tip. The flowers are small and of
the liliaceous type, yellowish green and with the parts
moderately spreading. They are arranged in a broad
panicle of spike-like racemes. The plant is found on
moist hillsides, in swamps and wet woods, chiefly in the
eastern half of the continent.

CALIFORNIA SWAMP HELLEBORE.— Veratnun ealifornicam

Durand.

This form is more common in the west, growing in val-
leys among the mountains, and is stated to have caused
the death of cattle and horses. It resembles the former
species except that the flowers are whitish and in a
looser panicle with long, narrow flower parts.

It produces effects similar to those of Veratrum viride
and the treatment is the same. Chesnut and Wilcox have
proved that a solution of potassium permanganate and

*For another antidote look under Veratmm califoniicum.

56 PASTURE AND RANGE.

aluminium sulphate, similar to that used for Zygadenus
poisoning, forms a chemical antidote, neutralizing the
poison not already absorbed.

BUTTERCUP FAMILY — Ranunculaceae.
LARKSPUES — Delphinium spp.

The poisonous effects of European Larkspurs have
been known for centuries. One species, D. Staphisagria

v L., called Stavesacre, was used as a poison

Examples and

Conditions of ^or ^lce- Many species are common in the
Poisoning west of Canada and the United States, and

have occasioned great losses among cattle
on the ranges. Marsh and Clawson place them next to
the "loco" weeds in the number of animals killed, and
Glover, in 1906, estimated the annual monetary loss, in
Colorado alone, at $40,000. All parts of the plants are
poisonous, the seeds most of all. Leaves and roots are
most harmful in early spring. The effects gradually de-
crease until after flowering, when practically all of the
alkaloids seem to collect in the seed and the rest of the
plant becomes harmless.

Stockmen have blamed the Larkspur for a large part
of their losses in both cattle and sheep, and until a few
years ago this opinion was entertained even by those who
should have scientifically investigated the matter. In
1916, however, Marsh and Clawson published an account
of experimental work which led them to believe that sheep
can withstand the poison, probably on account of its
prompt excretion by their kidneys- In repeated instances
sheep were fed large quantities of the plants and in no
case was any injury produced. They found horses to be
susceptible to the poison, though they do not voluntarily

BUTTERCUP FAMILY.

57

Fig. 9. — Larkspur — Delphinium sp.

58 PASTURE AND RANGE.

eat enough to harm them. In the case of cattle the re-
sults are quite different, the plant proving very poison-
ous, especially in the early spring when the cattle eat the
young growth greedily. Poisoning also occurs at other
times, when animals are changed to a new range, or in
autumn when other plants are covered by snow and cattle
are sometimes tempted to feed on the projecting seed cap-
sules of the taller forms.

The principal poisons contained are two alkaloids, del-

phinin and staphisagrin, of which the former is the more

harmful. The first symptoms noticed are

Poisons a stiffness of the limbs, and a somewhat

Contained and ....

Symptoms straddling gait. Respiration is slow at

first, then rapid. In one heifer it in-
creased to 128 per minute. The appetite is not much im-
paired and the brain functions normally, though the sick
animals are easily frightened. There is constipation and
abdominal pain, and in the later stages nausea and
vomiting, from which death often results by suffocation.
Bloating is sometimes present, but is not common before
death, although taking place rapidly afterward. A quiv-
ering of the muscles and weakness is prominent, the legs
crumpling up under the animal- Congestion of heart,
lungs and central nervous system and inflammation espe-
cially of the rumen, the oesophagus and the pyloric end
of the fourth stomach are post-mortem indications. The
alkaloid evidently acts as a local irritant and a nerve de-
pressant. If recovery takes place it is usually very rapid.
The treatment indicated is (1) magnesium sulphate to
overcome the constipation, (2) a chemical antidote for
Tr the poison remaining in the stomach, and (3)

injections of a physiological antidote for that
which has been absorbed. Chesnut and Wilcox recom-

BUTTERCUP FAMILY. 59

mend a K£ solution of potassium permanganate and
aluminium sulphate as a chemical antidote, one quart be-
ing enough for three to five cows, or seven to ten horses ;
and injections of one-half to one grain of atropin. Marsh
and Clawson report poor results from this treatment and
recommend the use of Epsom salts and injections of a
combination of physostigmin salicylate, pilocarpin hydro-
chloride and strychnin sulphate, supplemented by hypo-
dermics of dilute alcohol where weakness is very pro-
nounced. All excitement should be avoided and the ani-
mal kept with its head higher than the rest of the body.
Where bloating occurs, it should be relieved by paunch-
ing.

As noted above, many species of Larkspur are found in
Canada and the United States, but a detailed classification

is unnecessary- All have leaves with deep
The Plants

palmate lobes and flowers in a loose elongated
terminal cluster. The flowers vary from bright blue to
pale violet and yellow, both sepals and petals being col-
oured. Each is provided with a long spur. The glisten-
ing black seeds are contained in erect, horned capsules.
The species are divided into two groups. The low Lark-
spurs grow from six inches to three feet tall and the
foliage dies and dries up at seeding time. The tall spe-
cies are three to six feet high, and retain their leaves for
a longer period.

MONKSHOOD— Aconitum spp.

Other Common Names : Friar's Cap, Wolfsbane, Iron
Hat.

Rydberg lists three members of this genus from West-
ern Canada. One of these, Aconitum columbianum Nutt.

60 PASTURE AND RANGE.

is found in the lower parts of the mountains and some-
times poisons stock, though it is so thinly scattered that
losses are comparatively rare. Its chief

Symptoms and effect ig Qn the heart an(j bjood vessels> but
Conditions of . .. ,

Poisoning there are also characteristic secondary

effects. The pulse becomes very weak.
Bloating is common and nausea and retching are present
in all cases. There is apparently a considerable feeling
of constriction in the throat, giving rise to repeated at-
tempts at swallowing. The pupils are dilated. Horses
sweat profusely and become so weak as to be unable to
stand. Death is usually caused by asphyxia. The poison-
ous character of other species is a matter of history.
The European form, Aconitum Napellus L., is the source
of the drug aconite, and an Indian species Aconitum ferox
Wall., is used by natives of the Himalayas as an arrow
poison.

Concerning the treatment for aconite poisoning in per-
sons, Chesnut, in 1898, wrote as follows: "No specific

antidote is recognized, but physicians have
Treatment ' L f

used atropm or digitalis and nitrate of amyl

with good effects. The ordinary emetics and stimulants
must be given. Artificial respiration should be con-
tinued for a couple of hours if necessary, and a recum-
bent position must be maintained through the treat-
ment."

Tannic acid is recommended by Gail and Hahner as a
chemical antidote. All agree that the use of heart and
respiratory stimulants is an important part of the treat-
ment.

BUTTERCUP FAMILY.

61

Fig. 10. — Monkshood — Aconitum napellus.

62 PASTURE AND RANGE.

The plant arises from a perennial rootstock. It has

alternate, palmately lobed leaves which resemble those

of certain of its near relatives, the Lark-

The Plant M.V v i. M. • ^ t j

spurs, with which it is often confused, especi-
ally in the younger stages. The flowers, too, are arranged
as in Larkspurs. They are large and one of the ir-
regular coloured sepals forms the "hood." The five small
petals are all alike. The stamens are numerous and the
three to five carpels are partly united to form a horned
seed capsule as in the Larkspurs. Though similar in
many respects, Monkshood and Larkspur may be easily
distinguished when in flower by the presence of the hood
in one case and the spur in the other-

PASQUE FLOWER — Anemone patens L., var. Wolfgangiana

(Bess.) Koch.

Other Common Names: Prairie Crocus, Prairie Ane-
mone, American Pulsatilla, Prairie Smoke.

Willing mentioned this plant as causing the death of
sheep in Alberta, concluding that the trouble was due
to the formation of felt-like balls (phytobe-
Effect< zoars) of the hairs with which the whole plant
is plentifully provided. In addition to this
Pammel notes the presence of a very acrid poison, a crys-
talline substance anemonin, which, in the fresh plant, has
given much inconvenience to collectors, producing an
inflammation of the eyes and even blistering the skin
where wet by the juice. The drug is used by homo3o-
pathists.

ROSE FAMILY. 63

The Pasque Flower is one of the most beautiful plants
of the prairie, but is not confined to this region, extend-
Th Pi *n& a^so ^° British Columbia. The large pur-
plish flowers appear early in March on leaf-
less stalks. Later the three-divided leaves appear. At
first these and the stalk are covered with a dense coat
of silky hairs which persist, but are more scattered,
when the plant is fully grown. They form a valuable
means of identification. The flower resembles in shape
and size a small crocus and this has probably led to one
of its popular names — the Prairie Crocus. It owes its
beautiful crocus-like appearance to its coloured sepals,*
the petals being small and stamen-like. The stamens and
pistils are numerous, the latter, in fruit, forming a fluffy
head, with the long styles developed into feathery tails.

ROSE FAMILY— Rosaceae.

WILD CHERRIES— Prunus spp.

The Wild Black or Rum Cherry, Prunus serotina Ehrh.,
is a common tree extending from the east to the prairies.
The danger from it lies in the presence of prussic acid
in the wilted leaves. Animals may thus be poisoned by
eating the leaves from broken branches. The toxic sub-
stance is also contained in the seeds. The symptoms and
treatment for prussic acid poisoning are given under
Sorghum where they may be consulted.

The tree is large, with reddish brown branches, and
an aromatic inner bark. The latter is bitter, as in all
the cherries, and is valuable for distinguishing their

* There are five of these in the Pasque Flower while in the
Crocus proper there are six.

64 PASTURE AND RANGE.

twigs from those of other trees, especially the birches.
The leaves are oblong, thickish, shining above and taper-
pointed, with incurved, short teeth. The small creamy-
white flowers are in elongated racemes and the fruit is
shiny, purplish black and has a pleasant taste.

The Choke Cherry, Primus virginiana L., is also dang-
erous in the same way as the Black Cherry, and has much
the same distribution. It is a shrub or small tree with
grayish bark, the inner layers of which have a disagree-
able odour. The leaves are thin, abruptly pointed, sharply
serrate with slender teeth, and the fruit is red, turning
dark crimson, and very astringent. Willing, writing of
conditions in Alberta, where the plant is often abundant
and small, cautions against the use of hay containing re-
cently wilted young shoots.

The Western Choke Cherry, Prunus demissa Walp., is
a shrub or small tree with leaves thick and oval or
obovate, more or less obtuse and with short teeth- The
fruit is black and less astringent than that of P. vir-
giniana. The toxic effects are similar.

The Wild Red or Pin Cherry, Primus pennsylvanica L..
is a small tree growing from Newfoundland to the Rocky
Mountains. It has light brown bark, leaves ovate or
lanceolate, sharply and finely serrate, and small, bright
red, sour fruit in corymbose clusters, like those of .the
cultivated cherry. Poisoning may take place as in other
species of Prunus.

It is to be noted that the chief danger from all the
cherries is from the wilted leaves. Care should be exer-
cised to prevent stock from browsing on branches broken
from trees, for example, after cherry-picking, or when
haying, or droving cattle.

ROSE FAMILY.

65

g
I

u

PQ
§

-

66 PASTURE AND RANGE.

PEA FAMILY — Leguminosae.

STEMLESS LOCO WEED — Oxytropis spp. DC., also known as

Aragallus.

Other Common Names : Loco Weed, Crazy Weed, Loco
Vetch, White Loco.

For many years stockmen of the west have been suffer-
ing great losses from the disease known as "Loco." Sev-
eral agencies have at various times been held
The Loco responsible for the trouble. One opinion was

Tli con GA

that animals not regularly supplied with salt
acquired the disease from eating the alkali so common
in certain soils of the plains. This idea has been shown
to be erroneous since cases of "locoing" have become
known on ranges where the alkali could not be obtained.
Various plants were also blamed for the trouble and in-
vestigation has proved that this is correct, there being
now several distinct species of recognized Loco weed.

The disease takes a peculiar course, not unlike the
development of the drug habit in human beings. Horses
and sheep are the animals usually affected, but cattle also
become locoed in some cases. Animals may be pastured
for years on ranges where the Loco Weed is found and
show no ill effects, as they ordinarily avoid it. When one
of them acquires the taste, however, it develops a crav-
ing for the weed and hunts it incessantly. Sheep acquire
the habit by imitation, and so it is important to remove
all locoed animals at once from the flock.

In chronic cases of locoism an immunity is developed,
so that increasing quantities are necessary to produce

characteristic symptoms. In such cases there
Locoism *s a continual craving for Loco Weed, the

animal nervously searching it out and feeding
on it. Locoed sheep become more and more emaciated

PEA FAMILY.

67

Fig. 12. — Stemless Loco Weed — Oxytropis Lamberti.

68

and the fleece drops out in patches. There is an uncer-
tainty and incoordination of the muscular movements,
comparable to that exhibited in cases of drunkenness.
The animal wanders aimlessly about, straying from the
flock. Sight and hearing are affected. In some cases com-
plete blindness ensues, and in others the animal is unable
to judge the size of objects, or its distance from
them. In later stages fits of trembling follow each other
at short intervals and the power of locomotion is gradu-
ally lost. Death comes from exhaustion and lack of nutri-
tion.

Cattle and horses sometimes become dangerous. Cattle
have been known to attack persons or other animals.
Locoed horses may work as usual for some time and then
develop vicious fits of kicking. Their lack of judgment
of the distance and size of objects is often very marked.
They become easily frightened at imaginary objects and
run away. As is the case with sheep, they become
stupid and lethargic as the disease progresses. Chesnut
and Wilcox tell of one horse that spent two weeks with-
out moving from a spot of dry ground one hundred and
fifty feet square. The horse then walked some distance
to a stream and in attempting to drink, fell and was un-
able to rise.

When a large quantity of the weed is eaten by an ani-
mal unused to it, acute poisoning results- The symptoms
Acute are mucn more violent than in chronic cases.
Locoism IR a case described by Chesnut and Wilcox the
animal, a sheep, was completely blind within
ten hours after she was first observed eating Loco Weed.
She exhibited locomotor ataxia, walking in circles with
her head bent to the right. As the disease progressed the
circles became smaller. Pronounced muscular twitchings

PEA FAMILY. 69

were observed and forcible grinding of the jaws, these
symptoms preceding a spell of walking. The pulse, at
first irregular, became normal on the second day, and
later very rapid and weak. Respiration also became pro-
gressively more rapid during the course of the disease.
Death occurred on the morning of the fourth day, after
a period characterized by muscular twitchings and in-
ability to stand.

No satisfactory cure has been found for loco disease.
Sheep that have acquired the habit, if taken in time,

may be removed from Loco-infested areas
Treatment

and converted into mutton by the use of plen-
tiful feed of a succulent nature. They should never be re-
turned to the range, however, as they will at once begin
again to eat the Loco. Horses that have been affected
are never safe afterward, becoming frightened or vicious
at most unexpected times-

Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent in
attempts to rid the sheep ranges of Loco Weeds, but the
p . results have been unsatisfactory. If care is
taken to remove at once any sheep that
has become locoed, no great losses will occur. One ex-
perienced sheepman is said by Chesnut and Wilcox to
have lost so many sheep from Loco Weed that he decided
not to continue the business. He sold his ranch to a
stranger, who stocked it with sheep from another part
of the country and had no trouble. The new flock con-
tained no locoed animals from which the healthy ones
could learn the habit.

There are thirty-four species of Oxytropis listed from

western North America and of these twelve are reported

from parts of Canada. Several have been

The Plants ,

proved poisonous, the one most commonly

blamed being Oxytropis Lamberti Pursh. All species

70

PASTURE AND RANGE.

with the exception of two, O. deflexa (Pall.) D C., and
O. foliolosa Hook., are acaulescent, i.e., lack stems and
have leaves and flower-stalks growing in tufts from the
root-crowns. The whole plant, including the leaflets
of the pinnately compound leaves, is covered with num-
erous whitish hairs. The flowers are of the legume type,
ranging from yellowish white to blue and brilliant purple,

Fig. 13. — Flower of Stemless Loco Weed, showing "spur" (centre
right), on the keel.

and borne in spikes or narrow racemes. They are dis-
tinguished from those of the closely related genus As-
tragalus by the presence of a spur-like point, one-eighth
inch long, at the tip of the keel. The flowering season is
June and July and it is at this time that the plant is
eaten most freely, though animals that have acquired
the habit will search out and eat the fruiting plants.

HEATH FAMILY. 71

LOCO WEED OR MILK VETCH— Astragalus spp.

The resemblance between these plants and the stem-
less Loco Weeds is marked. They may, however, usually
be distinguished by the presence of leafy stems, but al-
ways, as stated above, by the absence of any spur at the
tip of the keel in the blossoms. Of the seventeen species
listed by Rydberg, a number are undoubtedly responsible
for loco disease and are as poisonous as the Stemless
Loco Weeds. One species, Astragalus moUissimus Torr-,
has caused great losses in parts of the western United
States. Chesnut says the damage done to the live-stock
business by this weed is immense. The State of Color-
ado paid out nearly $200,000 in bounties between 1881
and 1885, to check its ravages.

Barium salts have been suspected as the toxic sub-
stance of the Loco Weeds.

HEATH FAMILY— Ericaceae.

LAURELS — Kabnia spp.

Several poisonous species of Kalmia are found in Can-
ada and the United States, growing in dry places and in
Poisonin boss- Their leathery leaves, and, in fact, all
by Laurels parts of the plants, contain andromedodextrin,
a substance stated by Chesnut to be more
poisonous than strychnin, though it is almost the reverse
in its action. Grouse and deer appear to be immune to
its effects. When they have fed on it, however, their
flesh is said to be poisonous to human beings and to other
animals. It is reported that people have been poisoned
by eating honey extracted from the flowers.

72

PASTURE AND RANGE.

B

Fig. 14. — a Mountain Laurel — Kalmia latifolia; b Pale Laurel-
Kalmia polifolia.

HEATH FAMILY. 78

Cattle, sheep, horses and goats have died from eating
the leaves, Kalmia latifolia probably causing most deaths-
Care should be taken to avoid laurel thickets when herd-
ing animals in spring, as the evergreen leaves are tempt-
ing.

Cases of human poisoning arise from the use of con-
taminated meat or honey, from overdoses in "home
made" medicine, and from mistaking the young shoots
for those of wintergreen. The leaves have been used to
increase the intoxicating effect of liquors, sometimes with
disastrous results.

Irregular breathing is a very characteristic symptom.

In addition we have persistent nausea, salivation and

grating of the teeth, together with dizziness

Symptoms . ' f

and loss of sight and feeling. Stupor and death
follow. In man there is intense headache, perspiration,
tingling in the skin, and much vomiting.

As antidotes for the poison, Chesnut suggests atropin

, or strychnin. He recommends also the use
Treatment

of oil, fat or melted lard when symptoms
are first noted.

The Mountain Laurel, Kalmia, latifolia L., is found on
rocky hills and dry slopes from the eastern coast to
The Plants Ontario and southward. Miss Fyles quotes
Barton, who wrote in 1798 that this species
was poisonous to animals and was used by Indians as a
means of suicide. In Canada it is a shrub, usually not
more than six feet high, but grows much larger in some
parts farther south. The evergreen, short-petioled,
usually alternate leaves are ovate-lanceolate or oblong,
thick, and bright green on both sides. The beautiful
pink flowers are flat with a raised edge and depressions
for the anthers of the ten stamens. They are one-half

74 PASTURE AND RANGE.

to one inch broad, in terminal corymbs, with clammy-
pubescent stalks. The seed-pods also are glandular.

The Sheep Laurel or Lambkill, Kalmia angiistifolia L.,
is found from Labrador to Ontario and southward on
hillsides, and in pastures and bogs. It is usually not
more than three feet high, and the leaves, smaller than
those of the mountain Laurel, are usually opposite or in
threes and are pale beneath. The lateral corymbs of
crimson flowers are slightly glandular. The flowers are
less than one-half inch in diameter.

The Pale Laurel, Kalmia, polifolia, Wang., extends
across the northern part of the continent and stretches
south through all but the Prairie Provinces, being found
on mountains and in cold bogs. It is a straggling shrub,
not more than two feet high, with opposite, oblong leaves,
white-glaucous beneath and with revolute margins. The
terminal corymbs have each a few rose purple flowers
two-fifths to one inch broad.

CARROT FAMILY— Umbelliferae.

WATER HEMLOCK— Cicuta spp.

Other Common Names: Wild Parsnip, Spotted Hem-
lock, Beaver Poison, Musquash Root, Cowbane, Spotted
Cowbane.

Several species of the Water Hemlock grow commonly
in Canada. Parts of these are deadly in their effects.
This fact was well known to the Indian by whom the
root, the most poisonous part, was sometimes used for
self destruction, being very rapid in its action. Cases of
accidental human poisoning also occur. The roots have
a sweetish and not unpleasant taste, and a rather
parsnip-like odour. They are occasionally eaten by chil-

CARROT FAMILY.

75

Fig-. 15. — Water Hemlock — Cicuta maculata,. a Upper leaves and

flower-clusters; b Thickened rootstock with cross-partitions,

and fleshy roots about one-third natural size.

76 PASTURE AND RANGE.

dren and even by adults, who mistake them for the arom-
atic roots of harmless plants.

During1 May and June, 1900, Chesnut and Wilcox noted
in Montana thirty-six cases of Water Hemlock poisoning
among cattle, and one hundred and five among sheep.
Thirty of the cattle and fifty of the sheep died. The
poisoning occurs under various circumstances. Chesnut
states that the seeds are sufficiently poisonous to cause
loss when the mature plant is cut and fed with hay, but
Marsh believes that this is a mistake. However this may
be, there is no doubt of the poisonous character of the
root and young shoot. Cases have been reported of
horses killed by eating the roots upturned by the plow.
Animals have also been reported to have been poisoned,
especially in the spring, by drinking water from wet
places where the Water Hemlock grew. The poison was
considered to have got into the water from the juices of
the roots crushed by the trampling of the animals them-
selves. Cases of poisoning by the young shoots are also
on record. Although the stem and leaves of the mature
plant contain little poison, it has been repeatedly proved
that the young plant, six inches or so in height, contains
it in sufficient quantity to be a source of much danger.
This early spring stage is especially attractive when
other .green stuff is scarce, and the ground being wet at
this season of the year the roots are readily pulled up
by the grazing animal, and form an added menace. We
are indebted to Dr. C. D. McGilvray, now Principal of the
Ontario Veterinary College, for the details of an interest-
ing case of stock poisoning by this spring growth of ttw>
Water Hemlock. It came under his observation when he
was stationed at Winnipeg. Twenty-one head of cattle
were turned out to pasture between 9 and 10 a.m. and at

CARROT FAMILY. 77

3 p.m. nine were found dead and several sick, one of the
latter dying while the herd was being removed. On ex-
amination of the place where the dead animals were
found, a piece of marshy land near the shore of Lake
Winnipeg, it was discovered that the whole area was
overgrown by the young shoots of the Water Hemlock.
The stomach contents of the dead animals proved to be
composed chiefly of this young growth with a few roots.
In this particular area cattle had pastured in former
years with impunity, the young Water Hemlock having
been concealed by the previous year's growth of marsh
grass, but this season the grass cover had been burned
off. Another peculiar feature of the case was that the
younger members of the herd were not affected. This
apparent immunity was found to be due to their having
been driven away from the tempting shoots by the older
animals.

Some writers state that the plant is most poisonous
in winter and spring. Others believe that the effects in
autumn are just as deadly. All agree, however, that
during the hot summer season a larger quantity may be
eaten without harmful results. Jacobson has discovered
the reason for this. In his investigations of the proper-
ties of cicutoxin, the poisonous constituent, he found that
it is very sensitive to rises in temperature, becoming
polymerized by heat.

The poison is very rapid in its action, and a very small

quantity will produce death. Soon after eating severe

aJbdominal pain manifests itself. Great mental

Symptoms .

excitement develops into a frenzy. There is
often frothing at the mouth. Respiration is laboured and
often irregular. The pulse is intermittent. Convulsions
follow and death ensues, sometimes within fifteen min-

78 PASTURE AND RANGE.

utes of the time when the poison was eaten, but more
often in two or three hours.

Treatment is generally very difficult, owing to the
rapidity and violence of the attack. In one case a cow

, was treated by opening the stomach as soon
Treatment

as symptoms were noticed, and removing the

contents. This, together with a large enema of warm
water and a drench of melted lard, produced a cure.
Potassium permanganate solution is recommended as a
chemical antidote, as is also tannin, but their effective-
ness is in dispute. Chloral hydrate and morphin injec-
tions are useful for reducing the nervous symptoms and
frenzy, the latter being preferable, perhaps, owing to its
more rapid action.

Cicuta rnacnlata L. is the most widely distributed
Water Hemlock in Canada, growing in moist locations

TU r»i probably across the continent. It is from two
Ine Flams

to six feet tall and crowned with large com-
pound umbels of white flowers, which are later replaced
by ellipsoid fruits with large oil tubes. The lower leaves
are large, and two or three times pinnate. The upper
are smaller. All have long petioles, sheathing the stem
completely at their insertion. The leaflets are lanceolate
or oblong lanceolate and coarsely serrate. The stems
are hollow, with solid partitions at the leaf nodes. The
short, bulbous rootstock has many cross-partitions close-
ly approximated, as may be seen by slicing it lengthwise
through the centre. Around its base are smaller root?
not unlike very small sweet potatoes in appearance.

The Oregon Water Hemlock, Cicuta, vagans G., is
•found in British Columbia, and the States to the south.
It is of this species that Hedrick makes the statement
that a piece of root the size of a walnut will kill a cow.

CARROT FAMILY. 79

It is a somewhat smaller plant than the preceding and
is distinguished from it by its orbicular fruits with small
oil-ducts. The leaflets also are less sharply serrate.

The Bulbous Water Hemlock, Cicuta bulbifera, L., is
found in the eastern provinces, Ontario, Manitoba,
British Columbia, and the adjacent states to the south.
Lake the other species it is very poisonous. It is a slender
plant, one to three and one-half feet high. Its leaflets are
linear and sparingly toothed. The upper leaves have
clusters of bulblets in their axils.

POISON HEMLOCK — Conium maculatum L.

Other Common Name: Spotted Parsley.

The poisonous effects of Conium maculatum, a plant
introduced from Europe, were known long before the be-
ginning of botany as a science. The juice, made famous
on account of its connection with the death of Socrates,
•was used by the ancient Greeks for the execution of
criminals. The poisonous principle (coniin) is found in
all parts of the plant. It is particularly abundant in the
leaves at flowering time, and is plentiful in the seeds,
especially when green. During the spring the roots are
almost harmless, but they become very poisonous in the
summer. The coniin is a volatile alkaloid, and thus
Poison Hemlock plants dried in hay are not very
dangerous.

The symptoms are a gradual loss of muscular power,
owing to paralysis of the motor nerve centre. Convul-
sions are not present and the mind usually
™d remains clear until death, which results

Conditions of

Poisoning from paralysis of the lungs. Horses, in

addition to the above symptoms, exhibit

nausea, intermittent sweating, muscular tremors and in-

80

PASTURE AND RANGE.

Fig. 16. — Poison Hemlock — Conium maculatum.

CARROT FAMILY. 81

creased rates of pulse and respiration. In cattle also the
pulse is accelerated and there is salivation, bloating and
great pain. A small quantity is sufficient to produce
marked effects. The plant has a disagreeable odour and
is coarse and unattractive when full grown. In early
summer, however, the leaves are succulent and are some-
times eaten by grazing animals.

Chesnut recommends the following treatment: "Use

of the stomach pump or emetics, tannin, tea, oak bark,

L stimulants, warmth at the extremities, arti-

Treatment . .

ficial respiration and the subcutaneous injec-
tion of atropin."

The plant, though introduced from Europe, is found
throughout the east to the Great Lake region, and again
Th PI- t m ^ne mountains of the west. It is an erect,

biennial, branching plant, two to six feet tall,
with a hollow stem spotted with purple. The leaves are
large and pinnately decompound, with much-dissected
leaflets, the ultimate divisions resembling parsley in ap-
pearance. The flowers are small and white, in large com-
pound umbels. The fruit is smooth, ovate and flattened,
with prominent, wavy ribs. It has no oil ducts. The
tapering root is about an inch in diameter and has an
odour like that of parsnip. The rest of the plant, when
crushed, produces the characteristic foetid odour oi'
coniin.

THE WATER PAESNIP— Slum cicutaefolium Schrank.

Miss Fyles reports cases from different parts of Can-
ada where animals have died from the effects of Water
Parsnip. Symptoms and treatment have not been worked
out. The poison apparently acts on the kidneys.

82 PASTURE AND RANGE.

It is common in wet places and of wide distribution.
It is an upright branching plant from two to six feet
high. The pinnately compound leaves have long, narrow,
sharply toothed leaflets. The lower ones are long petiol-
ed, the upper almost sessile. The white flowers are borne
in compound umbels with narrow bracts.

SUNFLOWER FAMILY— Compositae.
RAGWORT— Senecio Jacobaea L.

Other Common Names: British Ragwort, Tansy-
ragwort, Staggerwort, Stinking Willie.

Stockmen in eastern Canada formerly lost consider-
able numbers of cattle through a mysterious ailment
called "Pictou Cattle Disease." The liver was
the organ especially attacked. Long periods of
Disease nervous irritability and gradual emaciation were
followed by increasing weakness and death. An
investigation of the disease by the Canadian Department
of Agriculture proved the correctness of suspicions held
by farmers for years, that Ragwort was the cause. Since
that time experience in England and New Zealand has
corroborated this conclusion.

Both in pasture and in hay, Ragwort has proved
poisonous to cattle and, to a lesser extent, to horses.
Symptoms Sheep generally eat it with impunity. The
effect of the poison is apparently cumulative,
and animals may feed on the plant for months before
characteristic symptoms develop. Then the hair loses its
lustre, the animal becomes irritable and nervous, with
occasional chills, followed later by a paleness of the

SUNFLOWER FAMILY.

83

Fig. 17. — Ragwort — Senecio Jacobaea.

84 PASTURE AND RANGE.

mucous membranes, emaciation, staggering gait, great
weakness and death.

Strychnin and iron are of some benefit during the early
stages, but a dependable cure for the disease has not been

A discovered. Therefore preventive measures
Treatment

are most necessary. In eastern Canada culti-
vation and pasturing with sheep have been made use of
with some success for the eradication of the plant, but it
is still very plentiful in waste areas.

Ragwort is a European introduction. It grows abun-
dantly in the east and locally as far west- as Ontario.

Th Pi nt ^ *s an €rect Plant eight inches to two feet or
more in height, and may be smooth or more
or less covered with woolly hairs. The root leaves are
lyrate, while those on the stem are deeply pinnately dis-
sected or divided into small lobes. The bright yellow
flower-heads, about one-half inch across, contain both
tubular and ray florets as in the daisy, and are arranged
in a flat-topped cluster. The plant blooms in July and
August and forms a very striking feature of the
landscape.

SNEEZEWEEC — Helenium autumnale L.

Other Common Names : False Sunflower, Swamp Sun-
flower, Yellow Ox-eye, Staggerweed.

This native plant is found in moist places throughout
the country, and contains poison in all its parts, but more
particularly in the flowers. In powdered form the plant
is used to some extent in medicine, producing violent
sneezing when inhaled.

SUNFLOWER FAMILY. 85

The flavour is bitter, and animals usually leave it

alone. Chesnut states, however, that it often poisons

, cattle, horses and sheep that have been

Conditions and .

Symptoms of tetely moved to places where it is plentiful.

Poisoning It is claimed that a taste for the plant is
developed, inducing- the animal to eat an
amount sufficient to produce death. Horses and mules
are more susceptible than other animals.

"The symptoms, as determined by experiments made
in Mississippi upon calves, are an accelerated pulse, diffi-
cult breathing, staggering, and extreme sensitiveness to
the touch. In fatal cases, death is preceded by spasms
and convulsions." (Chesnut).

Melted lard is a most effective remedy, and relieves the
symptoms in so short a time that investigators have been
Treatment ^ ^° believe that its action is merely that of
an emollient, relieving the burning in the ali-
mentary canal. When this relief is obtained the nervous
symptoms cease at once.

The plant is an erect branching perennial, somewhat
downy, and from two to six feet high. Each of its
The Plant numerous flower heads, an inch or more broad,
consists of a globular mass of yellow disc
florets, surrounded by a yo\v of fertile yellow rays. The
leaves are lanceolate, sessile, rather thick, and usually
toothed.

WHITE SNAKEROOT — Eupatorium urticaefolium Reichard.

Other Common Names : White Sanicle, Indian Sanicle,
Squawweed, Richweed, White Top, Deerwort-boneset.

86 PASTURE AND RANGE.

There are few American plants whose poisonous prop-
erties have caused so much controversy as those of
T h] White Snakeroot. The disease called "trem-

Milksickness bles," which has lately been conclusively
traced to it, was for many years a mystery.
The trouble was formerly prevalent among animals feed-
ing- in wooded pastures, affecting more especially cattle
and sheep, particularly in some of the eastern and central
United States. It was variously attributed to bacteria, to
a poison in the soil, to exhalations from the swamps, and
to the bites of insects or small arthropods. Farmers
learned that if they fenced their cattle away from the
woods and swamps the disease did not trouble them. The
serious character of the disease was increased by the fact
that it was communicated to human beings by the milk
of animals suffering from it. People who acquired it
rarely recovered, and those who did survive were victims
of permanent nervous debility. The fact of its communi-
cation by means of milk led to the application of the
name "milksickness" to the disease.

The symptoms usually develop when cattle are out in

pasture. Some stockmen believe that the disease is more

prevalent in autumn. This may be due

,or , partly to the fact that unusual exercise and
Development of *

Disease excitement hasten the development and in-

crease the intensity of the symptoms, so
that the disease becomes more apparent at the time when
stock is being driven to market. The scarcity of other
pasture at this season would also lead to the ingestion
of larger amounts of the plant. In rare cases animals are
attacked in winter, when, according to experienced stock-
men, the disease comes as a result of the feeding of
swamp hay. This fact is significant, as such hay is the
only winter feed likely to contain White Snakeroot.

SUNFLOWER FAMILY.

87

Fig. 18. — White Snakeroot — Eupatorium urticaefolium.

88 PASTURE AND RANGE.

Wolf, Curtis and Kaupp of the North Carolina Agri-
cultural Experiment Station, have recently published an
extensive account of their researches on "trem-
s bles," in a special bulletin. From the results
of feeding experiments they traced the disease to the
White Snakeroot. Their treatise gives a complete and
valuable account of the symptoms as observed by them-
selves and by others.

Cattle exhibit listlessness, stiffness of joints and slug-
gishness with weakness and trembling, especially when
driven. There is constipation and a foul "garlicky"
breath. It is noted that among a group of animals,, some
may escape harm while others contract the disease,
though all have eaten the plant apparently to the same
extent. In sheep, in addition to the above symptoms, the
following are noted : loss of appetite, gritting of the
teeth, quick, laboured breathing, marked ataxia, frequent
and scanty urination. The trembling is very pronounced
and accompanied by tetanic spasms.

In pigs the appetite is not impaired until the later
stages but the trembling is very violent.

In man there is abdominal pain, vomiting, and exces-
sive thirst; otherwise the symptoms resemble those in
the lower animals.

No satisfactory cure for the disease has been discover-
ed and the chances for such a discovery are not hopeful,

as the poison produces fundamental
TheVSnllynCure cnanSes in the internal organs. The only

way of overcoming the disease, therefore,
is by not allowing the animals access to the Snakeroot.
Pasture areas infested by it should be fenced off or cleared
of trees and broken up by the plow-

SUNFLOWER FAMILY. 89

The plant is a native perennial, growing from New
Brunswick to Ontario and south of the line, in damp
Th Pi w<>ods, especially on their borders and in land
recently cleared but not broken up. Its slender
branching stem is one and one-half to three and one-half
feet high, with opposite long-petioled leaves, broadly
ovate and with coarse, sharp teeth. There is a character-
istic mat of dark brown fibrous roots. The small flower
heads, one-quarter of an inch or less in diameter, are
white, and arranged in close compound clusters.

SECTION III
Plants Dangerous in Ground Feeds

Many plants have poisonous seeds. Indeed in many
species there is a tendency for the poison to be collected
from other parts of the plant and concentrated in the
seed. These poisonous seeds are of great importance in
Canada, where they form a considerable proportion of
the screenings, millions of bushels of which are cleaned
from grain annually. It has been customary for millers
to mix the screenings from the wheat they grind, with
their bran and shorts. In the early days the screenings
obtained at the large grain elevators of the west were
destroyed, but of late years they also have been used in
the manufacture of feeds. This practice, which has been
fairly successful in the United States, has caused much
trouble in Canada, where the screenings on the average
contain a much larger proportion of poisonous seeds. The
loss from this source has been confined, for the most part,
to swine. Complaints have, however, come from men in
other branches of the livestock business, especially those
engaged in dairying, who claim that a great deal of
sporadic abortion has been caused by the use of feed con-
taining screenings.

Much investigation into the character of our native
weed seeds is still needed, and it is probable that species
not now known to be harmful will be definitely proved so
in the future. This section gives a resume of the facts
BO far ascertained.

90

GRASS FAMILY. 91

GRASS FAMILY— Gramineae.
DARNEL — Lolium temulentum L.

Other Common Names : Poison, White or Bearded
Darnel, Tares.

The history of Darnel is interesting. The plant has
been known and its ill effects noticed for hundreds of
years. It is believed to be identical with the tares of
Scripture. The seed, being of approximately the same size
as the grain, had to be separated by hand, the women
performing this tedious task on the flat housetops.

There are many cases where people have been badly
poisoned by eating Darnel in bread or meal, but few if

. any deaths are recorded. This is not true
Conditions of

Poisoning °* the lower animals, many of which have
been killed by eating it in ground feeds.
Pigs, horses and sheep have suffered most. At the Lyons
Veterinary School a horse was fed 4.4 Ibs. of the seed
and died as a result Cornevin states that Darnel in the
proportion of 0.7% of the weight of a horse will pro-
duce death, while 1.5 to 1.8% is required to produce the
same result in ruminants and poultry.

The seeds only are poisonous, their effect being due to
the presence of the alkaloid temulin, of which they con-
tain, according to reputable analysts, 0.6%

The Poison fo weight. In the fruits of some 70% to 80%
Substance * , '

of the plants is a fungus which lives sym-

biotically with the plant, and is supposed by many to
cause the trouble- This fungus forms a layer of hyphae
just outside the aleurone layer of the grain. It has never
been observed to produce fruiting bodies or spores, and

92

GROUND FEEDS.

its relationship is not known. As the seed sprouts the
fungus keeps pace with the growth of the young plant,
and finally affects the grain again. Feeding tests which
would prove whether the fungus is responsible for the
poisoning have not been made.

Fig. 19. — Grains of Darnel — Lolium temulentum.

natural size.

Five times

Symptoms

The symptoms are those of a deliriant nerve poison.
There is confusion of sight which was known in very
ear^ times and is mentioned by classic
writers. Further symptoms are dilation of
pupils, giddiness, drowsiness, staggering and stupefac-
tion. Trembling is followed in some cases by convul-
sions. In others vomiting and purging may take
place. The respiration is laboured and the pulse slow.
Inflammation of stomach and intestine have been ob-
served.

PINK FAMILY. 93

The plant was introduced from Europe. It is most plen-
tiful along the eastern and western coasts, but is found
locally in the interior, growing in waste

The Plant •, j • -,, •

and S d places and among gram crops- It is an an-
nual grass from two to four feet high, with
a smooth, stout stem, and rather broad leaves, rough
above. The spikelets, each containing four to eight seeds,
are arranged alternately, pressing into slight curves in
the rachis, or main stalk. The fruit, which alone pro-
duces trouble, is not unlike a small grain of barley in
appearance. The hulls enclose the kernel very tightly,
the outer one being hard and flinty, and the inner
minutely bristly along the edges. The size is about that
of a small grain of wheat.

PINK FAMILY — Caryophyttaceae.

PURPLE COCKLE — Agrostemma Githago L.

Other Common Names : Corn Cockle, Corn Rose, Corn
Campion.

The seeds of this common plant are responsible for a
great deal of trouble. Their reputation is so bad that

certain of the United States have laws pro-
Conditions of . ., .,. - . , , . , ,,
Poisoning hibitmg the sale of feeds in which they

are present even in the smallest proportion.
The plant grows commonly in wheat fields, and the seeds
are of such a size that it is very difficult to separate them
from the wheat. Before the days of modern machinery
they often found their way into the flour with disastrous
results. At present the chief trouble arises from the fact
that when they have been cleaned from the wheat, they
are mixed with bran and middlings or other feeds, some-
times in sufficient proportions to cause many deaths

94

GROUND FEEDS.

Fig. 20.— Purple Cockle— A grostemana Githago. Seeds five times

natural size.

PINK FAMILY. 95

among animals. Cornevin, the distinguished French in-
vestigator, stated that the following amounts of the
ground seeds are sufficient to cause death :

Calf ... 0.25 Ib.

Pig . 0.10 " per 100 Ibs.

Dog 0.90 " live weight.

Fowl . 0.25 "

Later investigators obtained different results, and it
has since been found that the amount of poison in the
seed varies for different seasons and different soils.

The toxic substance is saponin, of which the seeds con-
tain up to 6-56 per cent. This same substance is also
Th Po' contained in other parts of the plant, but in

such small quantities that no harm has arisen
from its presence. It has an acrid taste but no odour, and
is easily soluble in water, producing a solution which
froths when shaken.

Githagism is the name given to a chronic poisoning
caused by the taking of repeated small doses over a long
Githa ism Peri°d of time. The symptoms are a gradual
loss of strength and wasting of flesh, accom-
panied by chronic diarrhoea and nerve troubles, ending
in death. These symptoms are produced in human beings
by the use of flour containing cockle. They are not found
in lower animals with the exception of pigs.

The acute poisoning caused by large doses is described
as follows by Chesnut : "Intense irritation of the diges-
tive tract, vomiting, headache, nausea, ver-
Acute tigo> diarrhoea, hot skin, sharp pains in the

spine, difficult locomotion, and depressed
breathing. Coma is sometimes present and may be fol-
lowed by death."

96 GROUND FEEDS.

We quote from Long the symptoms which Cornevin
observed in different animals : "In the horse, if a small
g quantity only is taken , there is yawning,

heavy colic, stamping and evacuation of
rather soft faeces. If larger quantities are taken, the
symptoms, which commence in about an hour, are saliva-
tion, frequent yawning and turning of the head, colic,
pale mucous membrane, hurried and weak pulse, rise in
temperature and accelerated respiration. Some time later
there are muscular tremors succeeded by pronounced
rigidity, and the faeces are diarrhceic and foetid- The
animal lies down, and getting up is painful ; it falls into
a kind of coma, stretches itself to the utmost, and death
takes place without convulsions.

"In cattle, the symptoms observed one hour after eat-
ing are restlessness, salivation, and grinding of the
teeth. Excitement and colic are followed sometimes by
coughing, this state lasting from five to eight hours.
There is then a period of coma, characterized by per-
manent decubitus, repeated foetid diarrhoea, hurried and
plaintive respiration, accelerated and gradually weaken-
ing pulse, a gradual loss of motor and sensory powers,
and a progressive decline in temperature. Death occurs
in twenty-four hours.

"In the case of pigs, the animal grunts, lies down and
remains thus with its snout embedded in the straw. There
is vomiting, more or less violent colic and diarrhoea, the
evacuation consisting of bad-smelling, spumous faecal
matter. At times there are clonic contractions. Young
pigs are most susceptible."

Pott cites cases in which abortion was a feature of the
poisoning, both in cows and pigs.

PINK FAMILY. 97

The action of saponin is counteracted by extract of
Antidotes digitalis. Oils and demulcent drinks are also

recommended.

The plant is common in the winter wheat fields of

Europe and North America, and in the spring wheat of

a few districts. It is about the height of the

wheat plants. Its stems and narrow, pointed

and Seed

leaves are greyish green, owing to a scatttered

covering of fine, silky hairs. The rich, purple flowers, one
to two inches across, with the five green, pointed sepals
standing out beyond the petals, warrant the name Agros-
temma, or "crown of the field."

The seeds are enclosed in a flask-shaped, one-celled
capsule with a central column to which they are attached.
When ripe the capsule opens at the top and the seeds
break loose from their fastenings. They are jet black
when ripe, from one-twelfth to one-eighth of an inch in
diameter, and somewhat flattened. They are character-
ized by rows of teeth which curve round from a notch at
the point of attachment. Fragments of the hulls aro
readily identified in ground feeds by these teeth.

Cow COCKLE — Saponaria Vaccaria L.

Other Common Names: Cow Herb, China Cockle,
Spring Cockle.

This plant is a close relative of Purple Cockle and was
suspected of producing similar effects. Its growing pre-
valence in western grain fields led Ches-
Si™ilar nut and Wilcox to investigate the truth of

to those of

Purple Cockle these suspicions. Their experiments with

rabbits corroborated the earlier statement

that the plant contains a poisonous, saponin-like sub-

98

GROUND FEEDS.

stance, and established the fact that this poison is plenti-
ful in the seed. A water extract of twenty-one grams
of the seed, made a three-pound rabbit very ill, but it
finally recovered. The residue from the water extraction
was treated with 50% alcohol, and the solution from 1.5
grams of the seed, when injected into a thirty-two-ounce
rabbit, caused death.

Symptoms and treatment follow the same lines as in
the case of Purple Cockle. The use of the permanganate
solution as described (p. 52) is recommended if the pre-
sence of seeds in the stomach at the time of treatment is
suspected.

I*

Fig. 21. — Seeds of Cow Cockle — Saponaria Vaccai-ia.

natural size.

Five times

The plant is an annual, introduced in grain from south-
ern Europe, and thrives among the spring wheat of the
west, where it is spreading rapidly. Its stem,
simple or branching, is one to two and one-
half feet tall, smooth, succulent and greyish
green. The broadly lance-shaped leaves have no petioles,
their base clasping the stem. The flowers are in flat-
topped racemes, pale pink, and one-half inch across.

The Plant
and Seeds

MUSTARD FAMILY. 99

The calyx is much inflated and five ribbed. The fruit
capsules are smooth and similar to those of Purple
Cockle but much more inflated, and contain about twenty
seeds each.

The seeds are about one-twelfth of an inch across,
round, hard and dull black- The surface is minutely
roughened and there is a shallow groove down one side.
On cutting the seed open the germ can be seen, curved
about the outside of the starchy endosperm, just beneath
the seed coat. When finely ground in feeds, it is only by
careful microscopic examination that its presence can be
determined.

MUSTARD FAMILY— Cruciferae.

WILD MUSTARD — Brassica arvensis (L.) Ktze., Brassica
Sinapistrv.m Boiss.

Other Common Names : Charlock, Herrick.

The poisonous properties of this plant have been given
less attention in America than they deserve. The reason
is a natural one. The seeds only are harmful, and the
plant is uncommon in hay and probably would be rejected
if present. It thus happens that animals obtain the poison
only when the seeds are combined with concentrated
feeding stuffs. This very often happens, but the nature
of the seed is such that when finely ground, an ordinary
inspection fails to distinguish it from the wheat mid-
dlings with which it is often mixed, and so its harmful
effects have been attributed to other causes.

100

GROUND FEEDS.

A Case of
Poisoning

A typical case of its action may be cited. A sample of
shorts was received from a farmer, together with com-
plaints that two of his pigs were already dead,
and that the same would have been true of
all the rest had he not discontinued the use
of the feed. On casual examination, the sample appeared
excellent. The microscope, however, revealed the pre-
sense of quantities of Mustard seed, very finely ground.*
The seed, which must have been deliberately added to the

*

Five times

Fig. 22. — Seeds of Wild Mustard — Brassica arvensis.

natural size.

shorts, had served two purposes. In the first place it was a
cheap adulterant, and secondly, it raised the fat and pro-
tein content of the feed as shown by chemical analysis.

A request for further information brought the follow-
ing reply from the fanner: "The pigs came up to the
trough and after feeding would fall back in a fit and
kick about two minutes, then jump up and stagger a little.
After wandering around the pen for a few days
they died, eating little in the meantime. They showed
agony when dying, kicking and frothing at the mouth."

"The complete separation of weed seeds is an essential prelim-
inary to the milling of wheat, as otherwise a good grade of flour
is not produced. Bran and shorts are therefore pure when they
come from the mill.

MUSTARD FAMILY. 101

Doubtless a trained observer would have detected other
symptoms, but a comparison of those just stated with
S -m toms ^e typical symptoms of Wild Mustard pois-
oning will leave no doubt as to the cause of
the trouble. According to Mueller, as quoted by Long,
these are: "Inflammation of the stomach and intestines
(with loss of appetite, wind, colic and diarrhoea) ; inflam-
mation of kidneys (difficult, excessive or bloody urina-
tion) ; and nervous symptoms, with great exhaustion, un-
certain gait, paralysis of limbs, and, in isolated cases,
convulsions." Horses and cattle are affected to some ex-
tent, but pigs suffer most injury.

The poisonous constituents are three in number:
The Poison v°latile oil of mustard, the alkaloid sinapin,
and the alkaloidal glucoside sinalbin.

The plant was introduced from Europe and has spread,
across the continent, in grain fields and waste places.
The Plant Although an annual it is a very bad weed on
and Seed account of its numerous seeds. When buried
in the soil they can live for many years. The plant is
simple or branching, one to three feet high, with its upper
leaves stemless, and the lower ones petioled and usually
lobed- The stem is purple at its junction with the
branches. The fragrant, bright yellow flowers, two-
thirds of an inch in diameter, are in clusters at the tips
of elongating racemes. The seed pods are slender and
one to two inches long. They are knotted below and ter-
minate in a two-edged beak.

The round, black seeds are about one-sixteenth of an
inch in diameter, and slightly roughened. They re-
semble the seeds of some other Brassicas very closely, but
can be distinguished from them by the microscopic and
chemical characteristics of their coats. The epidermis

102 GROUND FEEDS.

or colourless outer layer of the seed coat has each cell
almost filled with vertical columns of mucilage grouped
about a central cavity. Beneath, is the sub-epidermal
layer and then the palisade cells, filled with a dark sub-
stance which turns red when warmed with concentrated
solutions of hydrochloric acid and chloral hydrate
in the proportion of one to twenty. Inside the palisade
is an opaque, pigmented layer, while the centre of the
seed contains oil and aleurone grains. It is here that the
poison is located.

TUMBLING MUSTARD — Sisymbrium altissimum L.

Tumbling Mustard was introduced from Europe about
1887, and is an abundant weed in the grain fields of the
west owing to its copious seed production and its effici-
ent manner of spreading the seeds. When ripe the plant
breaks off and is driven by the wind, and the seeds, of
which it is reported that there may be as many as 1,500,-
000 on a single plant, are spread broadcast-

The whole plant is dangerous, owing to its pungent oils.

According to Pammel deep ulcers may be produced by it.

The vegetative part is not palatable, but the

seeds often find their way into feeds in

Poisoning

quantity.

Tumbling Mustard is a branching plant, two to four
feet high. The root leaves form a rosette, but later

shrivel and disappear. The stem leaves are
aniseed" verv varied and finely dissected. The flowers

are pale yellow, about one-third of an inch
across, and the slender pods are two to four inches long.
They are borne as in other Mustards. Introduced from
Europe, the plant has spread over the continent and is a
very troublesome weed in the north west.

MUSTARD FAMILY.

103

The seeds are either olive brown or greenish yellow,
slightly roughened, oblong, angular, and about one-
twenty-fifth of an inch long. The radicle shows up prom-
inently through the thin seed coat, the grooves on each
side being darkened. The palisade cells of this seed, like
those of Wild Mustard, form a cherry red compound
with chloral hydrate and hydrochloric acid.

1

*

'

Fig. 23. — Seeds of Tumbling Mustard — Sisymbrium altissimum.
Five times natural size.

FIELD PENNYCRESS— Thlaspi arvense L.

Other Common Names: French weed, Stinkweed.
The seeds of this plant are pungently bitter, and sick-
ening to taste, owing to a peculiar oil. For this reason
they are seldom eaten by pigs, on which such
Effect of seeds have the strongest effects. Samples with
accompanying complaints indicate that consid-
erable quantities of shorts and bran have been
made unfit for use as feed for pigs owing to the unpal-
atableness of the Field Pennycress seeds. If eaten, the
plant and seeds have the same poisonous effect as
the other plants of the mustard family. On some ani-
mals this effect is less apparent than on others. It would
seem, for example, that rabbits can eat the seeds with

Seeds in
Feed

104

GROUND FEEDS.

impunity. This is also true of seeds like Wormseed Mus-
tard, small quantities of which have proved fatal to pigs.
Certain other animals are similarly immune. One farmer
tells of a flock of geese which he fed on mill screenings
containing a large percentage of Frenchweed seeds. The
geese became very fat, and presented such a fine appear-
ance that he planned to present a number of them to
friends at Christmas. On preparing one of them for the
table, however, it was found that the flavour of French-
weed was so strong as to render the flesh unfit for food.

»

Fig. 24. — Seeds of Field Penny cress — Thlaspi arvense. Five timea

natural size.

Needless to say the original plan for the disposition of the
flock was altered.

The plant, which is another introduction from Europe,
has spread to the prairies, where it is a troublesome weed.
It is an erect, smooth, light green plant. The
radicle leaves are petioled and lance-shaped,
while those on the stem are spear-shaped,
with coarse teeth and a sagittate base. The clear whit-'
flowers are one-eighth of an inch in diameter and open, as
in other mustards, in a flat cluster at the end of an elong-
ating raceme. The flat seed pods are very characteristic.

The Plant
and Seeds

MUSTARD FAMILY.

105

owing to the broad wings which give them a total width
of about one-half inch.

The flattened, dark brown seeds are about one-twelfth
of an inch in diameter, with five or six deep, loop-like
grooves arising from the notched place of attachment.
They are pungently bitter.

WORMSEED MUSTARD— EY?/.S/>/UOH cJieiranthoides L.

This plant, like Wild Mustard, is harmful only when
its seeds are included in ground feeds. The seeds, which

Fig. 25. — Seeds of Wormseed Mustard — Erysimmn chcirunthoidex.
Five times natural size.

contain a pungent oil, are intensely bitter, and unless an
animal is very hungry, it will refuse feed containing any
appreciable amount of them. One sample of shorts sent
in for examination was accompanied by a statement that
two neighbours had bought feed from the same lot.
Each found all his pigs dead a few hours after the first
feeding. An analysis showed a considerable proportion
of Wormseed Mustard, there being 1.7c/c by weight of
whole seeds present. This aroused suspicion, and feeding
experiments made since by Dr. Hadwen, though not com-
plete, have practically demonstrated the poisonous char-
acter of the seed.

106 GROUND FEEDS.

The plant grows in grain fields and waste places

throughout the country, but more plentifully east of Lake

Superior. It is an erect plant six inches to

md Seed* two feet n*gn' with dark green, lance-shaped,

sparsely toothed leaves, and flowers one-fifth of

an inch in diameter, in clusters an inch across at the tips

of elongating racemes.

The slender seed pods are erect, on spreading stalks.
They are one-half to one inch long, and four-angled. The
small seeds, one-twenty-fourth of an inch long, are red-
dish yellow with the scar end darker. Their characteris-
tic bitter taste as well as their microscopic structure
afford a good means of identification.

WILD RADISH — Raphanus Eaphanistrum L.

The effects of Wild Radish are very similar to those of
Wild Mustard. Its acridity, according to Long, produces
pronounced intestinal disorders.

The plant, like many others, is an introduced one. It
is present in serious quantities only in the eastern pro-
vinces and states, but is found also in British Columbia
and California. It grows one to two feet high, with a
few widely spreading branches quite low on the stem.
The pale, yellowish green leaves are deeply lobed and
provided with a few stiff bristles. The flowers are fewer
and larger than those of Wild Mustard and are con-
spicuously veined. The pods are swollen and jointed,
with partitions between the seeds. When ripe, the pod
breaks at the joints, and the seeds are shed, each enclosed
in its own portion of pod.

The seed itself is about one-eighth of an inch long, oval,
irregular, and slightly flattened. It may, however, vary
greatly in size and shape. The finely netted surface is
reddish brown in colour.

MUSTARD FAMILY.

107

>

v

Fig. 26. — Seeds and broken pods of Wild Radish — Raphanwt
Raphanistrum. Five times natural size.

108 GROUND FEEDS.

FLAX FAMILY— Linaceae.

FLAX — Linum usitatissimum L.

This plant has been in cultivation from very ancient
times. Its stems produce the fibre of linen, and its seeds
are used for oil and feed. In western Canada where the
plant is raised extensively for its seed, disastrous effects
have come from the feeding of screenings containing
immature flax bolls and frozen flowers.

J. R. Dymond, late of the Seed Branch, Ottawa, re-
ceived a sample of flaxseed screenings with the following
statement from a farmer in Saskatchewan: "A few
weeks ago I fed about three gallons to a cow and two gal-
lons to a heifer. Both were in convulsions in less than
twenty minutes. The heifer died in about two hours, the
cow in about eight hours." On analysis the sample was
found to consist of : immature flax bolls and chaff, 75% ;
flaxseed, 18% ; wheat, 4% ; weed seeds, 2%. A chemical
analysis showed a considerable proportion of prussic acid.
Corroborative reports have come from other places where
screenings containing immature flax bolls have been fed,
and it is now an established fact that they develop prussic
acid in sufficient quantity to make them dangerous in
feeds.

The plant is too widely cultivated to need description
here.

SECTION IV

Poisonous Plants which are Rarely Observed
to Cause Death in Animals

Although this section consists of plants that have
rarely been observed to cause the death of animals, and
so may be thought of secondary importance to the veter-
inarian, farmer and stockman, yet animals may under
exceptional circumstances be poisoned by them- Indeed,
the aggregate loss from their agency is very consider-
able, and diagnosis should not be considered complete
until this section has been consulted. Included
among them are some of the most virulently poisonous of
plants, e.g., the "Death Cup" mushroom, whose baneful
effects on human beings are widely known. Others con-
tain epidermal poisons so strong that death has been re-
ported to have resulted from mere contact with the
bruised plants. Still others are the source of medicinal
drugs. On this account and because, as pointed out in
the introduction, Section IV contains by far the larger
proportion of the plants that are poisonous to human
beings, this section should prove of especial interest to
medical men.

FUNGI.

AMANITA spp.

The genus Amanita contains the most commonly
known, as well as some of the most deadly of our poison-
ous mushrooms or "toadstools" as they are colloquially
called. The top of the cap may have various colours, but

109

110 OCCASIONALLY FATAL.

the gills are always white, or only very slightly tinged.
The stem is bulbous at its base. While a few species
of Amanita may be eaten with impunity, a large propor-
tion are known to be deadly poisonous, and two in par-
ticular give trouble in Canada. It must be distinctly un-
derstood, however, that while we have limited our de-
scription to these two species of Amanita, there are many
other poisonous forms, and no one should use as food any
mushroom with which he is not familiar.

FLY AGARIC — Amanita muscaria (L.) Fr.

Other Common Names: Fly Amanita, Fly Fungus,
Fly Killer.

This mushroom is not confined to the Western Hemi-
sphere. It is native also to Europe and Asia where its
name originated from the fact that it has for centuries
been used as a poison for flies. Its natural place of
growth is not in pastures but in woods. Nevertheless, re-
cords show that cattle are sometimes poisoned by it. In
northeastern Asia the fungus is used in the manufacture
of an intoxicating drink, notwithstanding the fact that
many deaths result from over-indulgence.

The alkaloid muscarin is the chief poison which has
been isolated. It acts on the nerve centres, producing the
The Poisonous nervous symptoms. Bruce and Lond men-
Constituent tion it as the only known substance which
specifically contracts the pulmonary ves-
sels. It is stated that .003 to .005 gram of muscarin is
a very dangerous dose for a man. The amount present
in the fungus varies greatly under different conditions.
Moreover, a varying amount of the alkaloid pilz-atropin
also contained in the mushroom neutralizes the muscarin
to a greater or less extent. It is probably owing to the

FUNGI.

Ill

fcO

Dl

3

JS

"S

0>

«

t>

(M

bi

112 OCCASIONALLY FATAL.

presence of this chemical in considerable quantities that
in parts of France and Russia Amanita muscaria is used
as food without harmful results. As ordinarily found in
this country, however, the fungus has proved again and
again to be deadly poisonous.

The poison is moderately rapid in its action, the symp-
toms usually, though not always, beginning within two
hours after eating. The heart's action be-
comes slow and breathing is difficult. The
nerves are so affected as to produce giddiness, cold sweat,
and a deep stupor, which may last for hours or days.
There may be no abdominal pain, and after the stupor
has commenced the most powerful emetic often fails to
produce vomiting. The patient may linger for two or
three days before death ensues as a result of stoppage
of the heart's action.

The following treatment is recommended by Chesnut:
"The treatment for the Fly Amanira poison consists
Treatment primarily in removing the undigested fungus
from the alimentary canal, and in counteract-
ing the effects of the muscarin upon the heart. The
action of this organ should be fortified at once by hypo-
dermic injections, by a physician, of some heart stimu-
lant, preferably atropin, in doses of from 1-100 to 1-50
of a grain. As a stimulant emetic, mustard is particularly
valuable. If this is not effective, apomorphin should be
administered hypodermically by a physician; tannin is
of little or no value in rendering the muscarin insoluble
in the stomach. If vomiting has not taken place, recently
burned charcoal may be administered for its mechanical
effect in absorbing the poison, or a couple of grains of
permanganate of potash in a 1 per cent alkaline solution
to decompose it. The use of this substance should be fol-

FUNGI. 113

lowed by oils or oleaginous purgatives, and the lower in-
testines should be washed out with an enema of warm
water and turpentine. The use of atropin must be gov-
erned by the symptoms, but it is advisable to push it
heroically, for in this alkaloid we have an almost com-
plete physiological antidote to the poisonous principles
of the Fly Amanita. Experiments on animals poisoned
by this fungus and also by muscarin extracted from it
have very clearly demonstrated that when the heart has
nearly ceased to beat it may be stimulated almost in-
stantly by a hypodermic injection of atropin. Its use, as
thus demonstrated, has been the means of saving numer-
ous lives. Muscarin may be dissolved out of the Fly
Amanita to a great extent by vinegar, but the possible
existence in the plant of such compounds as phallin
(described under Death Cup, p. 114), makes its use ex-
tremely dangerous."

The Fly Agaric grows on the shady borders of fields
and especially in coniferous forests, and is one of the
The Plant Iar8'est of our mushrooms. The cap is yellow
to orange red, shining and warty, with a
slightly striate margin. The gills are white. The stem,
four to six inches long and about half an inch thick, ter-
minates below in a scaly bulb.

DEATH CUP — Amanita phalloides (L.) Fr.

Other Common Names: Poison Amanita, Bulbous
Amanita.

The name "Death Cup," with its sinister suggestion,
has been well earned by this fungus, for it is responsible
for even more deaths than its near relative, the Fly
Agaric. The Death Cup, while sometimes coloured, is
often pure white and very attractive in appearance. Its

114 OCCASIONALLY FATAL.

taste is pleasant, and the victim has no warning of the
trouble in store until, after some hours, the effects of the
poison begin to be felt, often too late for remedy.

The principal poison is phallin, an extremely deadly
member of the group called toxalbumens, which chemi-
cally resemble ordinary albumens such as
The Poison.

white of egg. Like white of egg, phallin

coagulates if boiled. If the Death Cup were prepared by
soaking in salt water, in which the phallin is soluble, and
thoroughly cooked it would produce no harm, but in too
many cases where this toadstool is mistaken for a whole-
some mushroom such precautions are not taken and
fatal results follow.

Robert studied the effect of phallin thoroughly in 1891.
and discovered that the poison acts chiefly on the blood

corpuscles, which are dissolved. The blood be-
Symptoms. '

comes unable to perform its functions, blood

serum escapes into the intestine, and the vitality of the
whole system is lowered until death results. The first
effects do not appear until nine to twelve hours after eat-
ing, when abdominal pain begins, sometimes accompanied
By cramps in the legs, convulsions and lockjaw resembling
tetanus. Vomiting and diarrhoea follow, and these symp-
toms continue till death, which may not take place for
from two to four days. "Rice water" stools as in the case
of cholera, are said to be a characteristic symptom.

When the poisoning is discovered, care should be taken
to remove all undigested parts of the toadstool from the
Tr stomach and intestine. There is no known

antidote for phallin, but if the symptoms in-
dicate the presence of muscarin-like substances the drugs
used in case of poisoning by Fly Agaric should be ad-
ministered- Blood transfusion with salt solution or with

ARUM FAMILY. 115

healthy blood may in some cases be effective against the
action of the phallin.

The fungus grows usually in woods, or along their
borders. It is from three to six inches high, with a cap
The Plant tnree to five inches broad, any colour from
pure white to olive or brown. It is usually
smooth, but has sometimes a few patches of membrane
adhering to the top. The gills, spores, and stalk are
white. The latter has a conspicuous ring beneath the
cap, and its bulbous base is enclosed in a membranous
cup, the "Death Cup." The bulb is buried deeply, anct
is often left behind in gathering the fungus. The stalk
is hollow, or when young loosely filled with material sug-
gestive of cotton fibre.

ARUM FAMILY— Araceae.

SKUNK CABBAGE — Symploca-rpus foetidns (L.) Nutt.

Other Common Names: Polecat- weed, Swamp Cab-
bage.

The plant derives its common name from its strong
odour. It is acrid and poisonous, "causing vomiting and
temporary blindness" (Pammel). It is, however, avoid-
ed by animals.

The tough, thick, pointed, leaf-like spathe, pale green
with purple blotches and streaks, is laid down in the fall,
and in the early spring expands, disclosing the small
purple flowers which are borne on a fleshy axis, called
the spadix. This spadix enlarges, and the scarlet fruits
are embedded in it. The enormous, short petioled leaves, .
with heart-shaped base, and short, ridged stem appear
in later spring.

116 OCCASIONALLY FATAL.

JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT— Arisaema triphylliim (L.) Schott.

Other Common Names : Indian or Wild Turnip, Three-
leaved Arum.

The plant is acrid, especially its corm, which is very
poisonous, having been used, according to Pammel, as
insect poison. It is claimed that boiling or baking re-
duces the acridity. Animals do not eat it.

A native of North America, it is common in low, moist
woods as far west as the prairies. The large pale-green
spathe, streaked with brown or purple, arches over the
spadix in the form of an old-fashioned pulpit. On the
narrowed base of the spadix or "Jack" small flowers are
borne, either staminate or pistillate as the case may be.
The fruit is bright red. The leaves are compound of
three smooth oval leaflets with entire margins.

LILY FAMILY— Liliaceae.

LILY OF THE VALLEY, Convallaria majalis L., is some-
times responsible for poisoning due to the presence
of a very poisonous crystalline compound. It has an eme-
tic and purgative action and a depressing effect on the
heart. If sufficient quantites are eaten death results from
paralysis of the heart.

Its two broad, entire leaves and spike of nodding,
scented, white flowers are too well known to need special
description.

ARUM FAMILY.

117

Fig. 29. — Jack-in-the-Pulpit — AHsaema triphyllum.

118 OCCASIONALLY FATAL.

IRIS FAMILY— Iridaceae,
THE BLUE FLAG— Iris vcrsicolor L.

Other Common Names : Wild Iris, Poison Flag, Water
Flag, Fleur-de-lis.

The Blue Flag may cause trouble if its rootstock is
eaten, as sometimes happens, in mistake for that of the
Sweet Flag, Acorns calamus L. Violent vomiting, purg-
ing and burning, and congestion of the intestinal tract
follow its ingestion.

The plant is erect, with thick, sword-shaped, bluish-
green leaves and large flowers whose perianth of three
large outer and three smaller, inner divisions is blue,
changing to yellow towards the centre, and veined with
purple. The pistil has three thin, petal-like stigmas,
which arch closely over the stamens.

ORCHID FAMILY— Orchidaceae.
THE LADY-SLIPPER— Cypripedivm spp.

Other Common Names: Moccasin Flower, Cypripe-
dium.

The Lady-slippers, since they are among the most
beautiful and conspicuous of our native Orchids, are
much sought after for decorative purposes.

As early as 1875 Dr. Babcock of Chicago came to the
conclusion that annual attacks of skin-poisoning to which
he was subject, were due, not, as he had supposed, to
Poison Ivy, but to species of Lady-slipper. Since then
his suspicion of the plant has been proved correct by
other investigators. Dr. McDougal, in 1893, experimented
with Ci/prijtcclium hirsutxm, the Showy Lady-slipper,

ORCHID FAMILY.

119

Fig. 30.— Showy Lady-slipper— Ct/pripednun hir

120 OCCASIONALLY FATAL.

and found that by brushing it over his arm he produced
effects similar to those of Poison Ivy. In fourteen hours
his whole arm and hand were much swollen and badly
inflamed. The swelling did not go down for ten days,
and effects were felt for a month.

The poison is in the form of a fatty acid, whose exact
composition is not yet determined. It is contained in
glandular hairs, which cover the surface of stem and
leaves. The effect is strongest in the fruiting period.
Even at this time, however, many more people are im-
mune than in the case of Poison Ivy.

The Cypripediums are showy plants with brightly
coloured flowers. There are three sepals, coloured like
the petals. Two of these are usually united beneath a
large, sac-like lip (the "slipper" or "moccasin") formed
by one of the petals. The other petals stand out at the
sides. There are three stamens, one of which is strap-
like and sterile. The other two, one on each side, have
two-celled anthers with masses of granular pollen. The
leaves are many-nerved and plaited, with a sheathing
base.

The following species are mentioned as poisonous:

The Smaller Yellow Lady-slipper, Cypripedium parvi-
florum Sallsb., is a species widely distributed in swampy
woods and bogs. Stem six to sixteen inches high ; petals
and sepals greenish, suffused with madder purple, one to
one and a half inches long. Lip yellow with purplish
spots or lines.

The Large Yellow Lady-slipper, Cypripediiuu piibes-
cens Willd., somewhat larger and more hairy than the
preceding, with a larger lip less strongly marked with
purple; often growing in clusters in low woods or on
moist prairie.

NETTLE FAMILY. 121

The Showy Lady-slipper, Cypripedium hirsiitum Mill.,
stem one to two feet high, hirsute, usually in clumps;
flowers pink; sepals rounded; lip oblong, much inflated,
white marked with crimson; moist woods, Newfoundland
to Manitoba and southward.

NETTLE FAMILY—Urticaceae.

THE STINGING NETTLE, Urtica dioica L., is one of a
well known group whose stinging hairs secrete a poison
that causes burning and itching inflammation of the
skin. It is found from the Atlantic to the prairies. It is
an erect plant with thin, ovate, toothed, sharp-pointed
leaves, cordate at the base, and with long petioles. The
flowers, in large clusters, are either staminate or pistil-
late. The stem and leaves are provided with stinging
hairs.

THE SLENDER NETTLE, Urtica gracilis Ait., produces
the same effect. It is from two to seven feet high and
rarely branched. The leaves are more slender than in
Urtica dioica and are not cordate at the base. THE WEST-
ERN NETTLE, Urtica Lyallii Wats., THE SMALLEST STING-
ING NETTLE, Urtica urens L., and THE WOOD NETTLE.
Laportea canadensis (L.) Gaud., produce similar results.

The juice of the Jewel Weed, Impatiens bi flora- Walt,
gives relief from the inflammation caused by Nettles. The
plant is three feet or more tall, grows plentifully in moist
places, and is easily recognized by its translucently yel-
lowish-green stem and sac-like, pendent, orange flowers
spotted with brown. Relief is obtained by rubbing the
crushed stem on the inflamed area, sometimes an enor-
mous reduction of swelling following its application.

122

OCCASIONALLY FATAL.

i y

Fig. 31. — Slender Nettle — Urtica gracilis.

POKEWEED FAMILY.

POKEWEED FAMILY— Phytolaccaceae.
POKEWEED— Phytolacca decandra L.

Other Common Names: Scoke, Poison Poke, Pigeon-
berry, Garget.

The roots and fruit of this weed are used in medicine
for skin diseases and rheumatism. In some parts of the
country its young shoots are highly esteemed as a substi-
tute for Asparagus. The roots are carefully removed in
such cases on account of their bitter taste. On boiling, the
drug, which is present in all parts of the plant, is ex-
tracted, and the greens are quite wholesome provided the
first water in which they are boiled is poured off.

The root has been mistaken for that of the Parsnip.
Artichoke, or Horse Radish, and human poisoning has
resulted mostly from such mistakes, or from overdoses
when used as medicine. In a few cases the death of chil-
dren has been attributed to the eating of the fruit and
seeds. Where the plant grows abundantly, the young
shoots have caused the death of cattle.

Phytolaccin, an acrid alkaloid, has been isolated from
Pokeweed, as have also the poison phytolaccotoxin, phy-
tolaccic acid, saponin and a glucoside. The weed pro-
duces vomiting, its action in this regard being very slow.
The vomiting begins only after about two hours and is
accompanied by violent retching. Severe purging is also
produced, along with spasms, and sometimes convulsions.
Death, when it occurs, is caused by paralysis of the res-
piratory organs, due to the narcotic action of the plant
poison.

Pokeweed is a smooth, coarse perennial, growing from
four to nine feet high, and found on low, rich ground in
Ontario and the states to the southward. Its root, the

124

OCCASIONALLY FATAL.

Fig. 32. — Pokeweed — Phytolacca decandra.

PINK AND BUTTERCUP FAMILIES. 125

most poisonous part, is large and dull yellow in colour.
In old plants each branch of the root may be two or three
inches thick. The leaves are large, smooth, petioled and
pointed at both ends. The venation is pinnate, and each
main vein forms a loop near the edge of the leaf, uniting
it with its neighbour. Bright green in summer, the leaves
turn red in autumn. The inconspicuous flowers are borne
in terminal and lateral racemes. They have no petals, but
the sepals are white. The green ovary soon becomes pro-
minent. In autumn the calyx turns bright red and the
berries become deep purple, with red juice. The seeds,
arranged in a circle in the berry, are black and polished.

PINK FAMILY— Caryophylktceae.

BOUNCING BET, Saponaria officinalis L., also known
as Soapwort, is poisonous, the whole plant and espe-
cially the root containing saponin, the effects of which
are explained in the section dealing with Purple Cockle
(p. 96) . The plant is found in old gardens and has often
escaped from them to roadsides and other waste places.
•It is a coarse perennial with showy bunches of white to
pinkish flowers.

BUTTERCUP FAMILY — Ranunculaceae.

THE WHITE BANEBERRY, Actaea alba (L.) Mill., is
known by various common names, Doll's Eyes, Coral and
Pearls, White Beads, Necklace-weed. This plant causes
trouble chiefly to children who are attracted by the ber-
ries. It is found in rich woods as far west as Ontario and
Minnesota, and at fruiting time is known by its oval
white berries in an oblong cluster, each berry being sup-

126 OCCASIONALLY FATAL.

ported by a thick, red peduncle. The leaves are large and
compound, with thin, notched leaflets, and the white flow-
ers are very small.

THE RED BANEBERRY, Actaea rubra (Ait.) Willd., re-
sembles the white species but its leaves are less delicate
and more coarsely toothed. The bright red berries arc
borne on peduncles which do not become thickened.
There is a variety with white berries, but it can be dis-
tinguished from Actaea alba by the slender peduncles.

Its poisonous action is similar to that of the preceding.

THE CURSED CROWFOOT— Ranunculus sceleratus L.

Other Common Names: Biting Crowfoot, Celery-
leaved Crowfoot, Blisterwort.

This plant is the most poisonous member of the genus
Ranunculus. Its juice has an extremely acrid, volatile
constituent, strong enough, it is said, to produce a blister
if placed in contact with the skin for two minutes. In
Europe, professional beggars used the plant for produc:
ing sores and ulcers, to excite pity and obtain gifts. The
plant is found in low lands throughout the continent, but,
needless to say, is seldom eaten. It has, however, been
held responsible for much trouble, especially in cows,
producing, according to Cornevin, colic and diarrhoea
with attempts at vomiting, accompanied by a falling off
in milk and various nervous symptoms. In serious cases
convulsions are produced, followed by death in six to
twelve hours. Similar symptoms are produced in horses.
Willing says that treatment should be symptomatic, and
that tannin is advisable.

BUTTERCUP FAMILY.

127

Fig. 33. — Cursed Crowfoot — Ranunculus sccleratus.

128 OCCASIONALLY FATAL.

The plant, which blooms from June to August, is an
annual, one-half to two feet high. The thickish leaves
are three-lobed and toothed, the radical with long petioles
and those of the stem sessile or with shorter stalks. The
flower is typical of the family, with five sepals, five petals
of equal length, and numerous stamens and pistils, the
latter forming an oblong head when ripe. The flower is
about one quarter of an inch broad, and pale yellow.

THE COMMON OR TALL BUTTERCUP, Ranunculus acris
L., is plentiful in pastures east of the prairies and is found
also in British Columbia. Its effects resemble those of
Ranunculus sceleratus but are not nearly so pronounced.
Animals avoid it, but naturally, in pastures where it is
plentiful, small amounts are sometimes eaten, and in such
cases it has been blamed for causing sporadic abortion
in cows. As in all other members of the genus, the poison
is volatile, and when dried in hay the plants are harmless.

The Tall Buttercup is a perennial, somewhat hairy
plant, two to three feet in height and conspicuous on ac-
count of the abundant bright yellow flowers sometimes
an inch in diameter. The sepals are small, pointed, and
hidden by the spreading, rounded petals. The leaves are
three to seven-parted, and deeply lobed. The root leaves
are larger and more lobed than the stem leaves, and are
provided with long petioles.

THE SMALL FLOWERED CROWFOOT, Ranunculus abor-
tive L., is acrid, and causes blistering. It is a smooth
plant one-half to two feet high. Its root leaves are
petioled, round, heart-shaped or kidney-form and ere-

BUTTERCUP FAMILY. 129

nately lobed, and the stem leaves sessile or nearly so, with
linear lobes. The flowers are very small, the yellow petals
being no longer than the reflexed sepals. It has a fruit-
ing head like that of Ranunculus sceleratus but smaller.

MARSH MARIGOLD— Caltha palustris L.

Other Common Names: Cowslip, Soldiers-buttons.

As a general rule animals may be trusted to avoid the
Marsh Marigold on account of its acrid properties. Cases
have occurred, however, of poisoning among both cattle
and horses, sometimes with fatal results. The young
plants are harmless, becoming toxic about the time of
flowering. The symptoms resemble those produced by
Buttercups. When dried in hay the plant is harmless.

Though it is an eastern species, the plant is found in
moist or swampy situations as far west as Saskatchewan.
It is a somewhat fleshy perennial with hollow, grooved
stems, growing in clumps with abundance of large, bright
yellow flowers. The sepals are coloured but no true
petals are present. There are numerous stamens and ten
pistils developing flattened seed pods. The leaves are
rounded, with a smooth or crenate margin. The flowers
are found in early spring, but may continue until June.

Caltha asarifolia DC., Caltha leptosejmla DC., Caltha
biflora DC. and Caltha chelidonii Greene, are western
forms with similar acrid properties and grow in marshy
places among the mountains. The first named species has
yellow flowers, while the rest have white.

130 OCCASIONALLY FATAL.

BARBERRY FAMILY — Berberidaceae.

THE MAY APPLE— Podophyllum peltatum L.

Other Common Names: Mandrake, Umbrella-plant,
Devil's Apple, Vegetable Calomel, Wild or Ground Lemon.

This plant contains podophyllin, a bitter resinous sub-
stance used in medicine as a purgative, over-doses of
which have proved fatal. It is very bitter when fresh and
so produces few cases of poisoning, although it is very
plentiful. The ripe fruit contains very little if any of the
drug. It has a sweetish, slightly acid taste and makes a
delicious preserve.

A native of North America, the plant grows plentifully
in parts of Quebec and Ontario and south to Florida and
Texas, in open woods and the shaded parts of pastures.
The underground rootstock is perennial and from it arises
the erect stem, a foot or so in height. From the top are
given off two fleshy petioles, bearing large umbrella-
shaped leaves, deeply lobed and notched. The pearly white
flower grows from the fork. The ovoid fruit is from one
to two inches long and turns yellow when ripe.

POPPY FAMILY— Papaveraceae.

THE BLOODROOT, Sanguinaria canadensis L., is another
native drug plant, containing sanguinarin which in small
doses is a tonic, but in larger quantities exerts a severe
irritant effect, with nausea and burning sensations in
the mucous membranes, followed by vertigo and insen-
sibility. In the natural state it is not eaten, for the taste
is exceedingly acrid, and the orange red juice is repulsive.

PEA FAMILY. 131

It is among the earliest of our spring flowers and is
found in rich woods of the eastern half of the continent.
The heavily-veined and lobed leaf is at first folded about
the flower bud, showing only its greyish-green, under sur-
face. The two .sepals fall off as the flower opens, and the
eight white petals soon follow. The shining brown seeds
are contained in slender green pods. The thick, red peren-
nial rootstock is rich in alkaloids.

THE GREATER CELANDINE, CheUdonium majus L., has
effects that are similar to those of Bloodroot. It also is
rarely or never eaten by stock.

It is a brittle plant, one to two feet tall, with deeply
lobed leaves and small yellow flowers. The two sepals
fall off when the flower opens, leaving four yellow petals.
The juice is deep yellow, turning red on exposure to air.

PEA FAMILY — Leguminosae.

THE PRAIRIE THERMOPSIS, Thermopsis rhombifolia
Richards, is often eaten by sheep and has in some cases
been thought to have poisoned them. The seeds are sup-
posed to be the poisonous part, and several reports have
come from western Canada of children being poisoned
by eating them. They rarely cause death.

The plant is an erect perennial resembling the Lupines
to some extent. It is covered with silky hairs and grows
from Manitoba and Kansas to the mountains. The leaves
have broad stipules and three obovate leaflets. The short
racemes bear a few yellow flowers and recurved pods.

132 OCCASIONALLY FATAL.

THE SCOTCH BROOM, Cytisus scoparius (L.) Link., has
been introduced and is found along the Atlantic and Paci-
fic coasts. It contains cytisin, and sometimes poisons
stock, causing salivation, vomiting, staggering and par-
alysis. The lower leaves are compound, with three obo-
vate, spiny-tipped leaflets, while the upper ones are ses-
sile and often entire. The yellow flowers are borne in
long, leafy racemes.

THE BLACK LOCUST, Robinia Pseudo-Acacia L., is a
tree common in cultivation, the leaves, bark, roots and
seeds of which are poisonous, containing an albuminous
substance resembling belladonna in its action. Cases of
poisoning are comparatively rare, though they have been
reported for animals and for people as well. In one case
thirty-two boys were poisoned by eating the bark strip-
ped from fence posts. No deaths occurred however.

In cases of human poisoning fever is followed by pale-
ness and coldness of the extremities. There is vomiting.
The pupil is dilated and the heart-beat weak and inter-
mittent. The treatment which was administered in the
case of the boys mentioned above consisted of "sinapisms
over the stomach, sub-carbonate of bismuth, camphor and
brandy." (Pammel).

THE CLAMMY LOCUST, Robinia viscosa Vent., has
similar poisonous properties. It is a small tree with glan-
dular twigs, petioles and peduncles. The leaves have
more leaflets than those of the Black Locust, varying
from eleven to twenty-five. The flowers are pinkish and
odourless, in dense racemes.

PEA FAMILY.

Fig. 34. — Clammy Locust — Robinia riscosa.

134 OCCASIONALLY FATAL.

SPURGE FAMILY— Euphorbiaceae.

THE CASTOR OIL PLANT, Ricinus communis L., contains
in its seeds the poison ricin, which remains in the cake
after the castor oil has been pressed out. These seeds are
stated to have caused death in man, and Chesnut says
they have killed horses when eaten accidentally, and that
sheep have been poisoned with them. "They cause vomit-
ing, gastric pain, bloody diarrhoea and dullness of vision."
(Pammel). An antitoxin has been discovered, after the
use of which animals may be fed on the castor bean cake
without injury.

The plant is ornamental, and is often cultivated. It is
a smooth, branching annual, five feet or more in height,
with large, palmately lobed leaves. The large mottled
seeds are enclosed in the somewhat spiny case.

SUMAC FAMILY— Anacardiaceae.

POISON IVY — Rhits Toxicodendron L.

Other Common Names: Poison-oak, Poison-vine,
Three-leaved Ivy.

This plant is a native of eastern North America and
extends west to Alberta. It is notorious for its extremely
irritating effect on the skin. It contains a non-volatile
oil, toxicodendrol, which, when brought into contact with
the skin of a susceptible person, causes inflammation and
swelling, accompanied by intense irritation, and followed
by vesicles or blisters. The skin breaks and a liquid
exudes which, on drying, forms crusts or scabs. Pammel
quotes two reports of death from severe Ivy poisoning
in the case of children.

The action is slow, characteristic symptoms appearing
only after a lapse of eighteen hours or more. Some people

SUMAC FAMILY. 135

are not susceptible and can handle the plant without
harm. It is believed by many that those on whom the
poison is effective may even be poisoned without handling
it, from hairs and pollen grains or even from the smoke
of its burning. McNair's recent investigations of Rhus
diversiloba Torr. and Gray, which is so nearly like Rhus
Toxicodendron that many botanists consider the two iden-
tical, have led him to the conclusion that this belief is er-
roneous. He finds that the poison is contained in ducts
in the bast or inner bark of the plant and that the wood,
pollen, hairs, and the corky layers of the bark are harm-
less. It is probably the fact that the poison is a non-
volatile oil that has led to so much of the popular con-
fusion with regard to its dissemination. By unwitting
trampling among the plants the poison is deposited on
boots or clothing, whence it would become a centre of
future distribution.

The oil has no effect on the skin of the most of the
lower animals, and it is stated that almost all domes-
ticated animals can eat it with impunity. Dogs, however,
are poisoned by it.

Treatment* consists in the removal of the poison from
the skin by solution or by decomposing it chemically.
Scrubbing with soap and water is recommended and pro-
duces good results. It should be done before the poison
has had time to sink deeply into the skin. Alcohol will
dissolve the oil, and washing with a 50% solution is effec-
tive. It is stated that lead acetate neutralizes the irritat-
ing substance. A saturated solution of this salt in 50%
alcohol has been proved most effective.

* In a publication received since going to press, Giissow reports
uniformly good results from applications of tincture of iodine, each fol-
lowed after twenty-four hours by washing with soap and water (Can. Field
Nat., vol. XXXV No. 6).

136

OCCASIONALLY FATAL.

Fig. 3.">. — Poison Ivy — 7?//».s Toeeicodendron. Summer and winter

condition.

SUMAC FAMILY. 137

The plant is a perennial shrub, sometimes low and
erect and sometimes trailing or climbing by aerial root-

Th Pi ^s" ^e leaves are Pooled, and pinnately

compound, with three irregularly ovate leaf-
lets, variously notched and toothed. Scarcely two leaves
on the same or different plants can be found alike, and this
proves a most valuable means for identification. The
inconspicuous flowers grow in loose panicles in the axils
of the leaves. The fruit is whitish and globular, with a
waxy appearance.

Whenever practicable, Poison Ivy should be eradicated.
Where possible it is best to plow the land where it grows
and crop it until the ivy is killed. For places where this
cannot be done, Stone recommends a solution of one-half
to one pound of arsenate of soda dissolved in five gallons
of water. This should be applied in sufficient quantity
to soak into the soil and reach the roots. Five gallons is
sufficient to treat three to five square rods.

WESTERN POISON IVY OR POISON OAK, Rhus Rydberyi
Small, a low shrub growing in the Rocky Mountain re-
gion, has the same effect as Rhus Toxicodendron. Unlike
the latter, it does not creep or climb, but always stands
erect, one to two feet high. The three leaflets are often
tinged with purple when young. The small, greenish
flowers are borne as in the eastern Poison Ivy, and the
shiny white fruit is similar.

POISON OR SWAMP SUMAC, Rims Vernix L., is a shrub
or small tree sometimes attaining a height of twenty-five
feet. It is found in the eastern and central United States
and in Ontario, and produces effects similar to those of
Poison Ivy. The leaves are petioled and pinnately com-

138 OCCASIONALLY FATAL.

pound, with one to thirteen entire leaflets, obovate, oval,
or the lowest ovate, with short stalks and acuminate
points. The small, green flowers are in loose panicles in
the axils of the leaves. The fruit is greyish in colour and
slightly oblong. The leaves are very brightly coloured in
autumn.

HEATH FAMILY— Ericaceae.

THE FETTER-BUSH, Andromeda polifolia L., contains
andromedodextrin, a narcotic poison, in its leaves. Pam-
mel states that it has been known to poison sheep. It is
a shrub six inches to two feet high, growing in bogs
throughout the country. Its small, oblong, leathery leaves
have strongly revolute margins, and are white woolly be-
neath. The drooping umbels each contain only a few deli-
cately coloured pink flowers.

LEATHERWOOD FAMILY— Thymelaceae.

THE SPURGE LAUREL, Daphne Mezereum L., is known
by a variety of other common names, viz., Mezereon,
Lady-laurel, Paradise Plant, Mystery Plant and Dwarf
Bay, and contains several poisonous substances. Its bark,
leaves and fruit are poison when taken internally, pro-
ducing burning, vomiting, giddiness and convulsions.
Fresh bark soaked in water produces blisters when ap-
plied to the skin.

It is a small shrub with oblong, lanceolate leaves, fra-
grant, rose-purple flowers, and red drupes.

THE LEATHERWOOD, Dirca palustris L., known locally
as Moosewood, Wicopy, Swampwood, and Rope-bark, pro-
duces effects similar to those of Daphne. It is a shrub
with yellowish-green branches and oval leaves, two or

POTATO FAMILY. 139

three inches long. The flowers, blooming in April, are
pale yellow and tubular, with the style protruding beyond
the stamens.

POTATO FAMILY— Solanaceae.

BITTERSWEET, Solanum Dulcamara, L., other common
names of which are, Woody Nightshade, Bittersweet-
nightshade, and Scarlet Berry, is a poisonous plant con-
taining solanin and dulcamarin, the latter of which gives
the berries their peculiar taste, sweetish at first, but later
bitter. Solanidin and solanein are also present. The
berries and leaves are poison, but only mildly so, consider-
able quantities being required to produce the character-
istic narcotic effects.

It is a straggling or climbing perennial, with peculiar,
irregular, halberd-shaped leaves and cymose clusters of
purple flowers shaped somewhat like those of the potato,
with prominent yellow stamens. The berries are round
or slightly oval, and of an attractive, bright red colour.
The plant grows from the Atlantic to Ontario and south-
ward, and is quite readily recognized by its peculiarly
shaped leaves.

THE COMMON NIGHTSHADE, Solanum nigrum L., also
known as Black, Deadly, or Garden Nightshade, contains
solanin and solanidin. The berries are used as food to
some extent, but should be eaten with caution. They are
probably more poisonous when not completely ripe. Some
plants contain more poison than others, the amount vary-
ing with varying conditions of climate and soil. In cases
of poisoning reported to have been caused both by berries
and by leaves, the symptoms are staggering, lo^s of feel-

140

OCCASIONALLY FATAL.

POTATO FAMILY.

141

Fig. 37. — Common Nightshade — Solatium nigrnm.

142 OCCASIONALLY FATAL.

ing, and cramps. In the rare instances where death oc-
curred, it came as a result of paralysis of the lungs.

The plant grows across the continent in shaded places.
It is a rather spreading annual with ovate, sinuately-
lobed leaves. The flowers resemble those of Bittersweet
but are white instead of purple. The berries are black.

THE THREE-FLOWERED, SPREADING OR PRAIRIE NIGHT-
SHADE, Solanum triflorum Nutt., has berries which havs
been proved poisonous in experiments with guinea pigs.
It grows on plains in Ontario and the west, and is a low,
spreading annual with acute, pinnately dissected leaves.
The flowers, in clusters of one to three, are white; the
berries, green or blackish.

THE BLACK HENBANE, Hyoscyo.mus niger L., other com-
mon names of which are, Foetid Nightshade, Insane Root,
and Poison-tobacco, contains a very poisonous mixture of
alkaloids; the chief of which are hyoscyamin and hyoscin.
Pseudohyoscyamin is also present. The roots and seeds
are more poisonous than the leaves. The taste is dis-
agreeable and animals usually do not eat it. Many
cases of children poisoned by the seed are on record.
The effect of the drug is similar to that of atropin, but
its action on the brain is more sedative and its stimula-
tion of heart and respiratory centres is less pronounced.
It is used in medicine.

The plant is found in Canada and the northern states
extending as far west as Ontario. It is erect and one to
three or four feet high. The leaves are ovate and sinuate
toothed, the upper ones clasping the stem. The flowers
are in one-sided leafy spikes. The bell-shaped or cup-
shaped corolla is composed of five united, dull yellow

POTATO FAMILY.

143

Fig. 38. — Black Henbane — Hyoscyamus niger.

144 OCCASIONALLY FATAL.

petals with purple veins, and the seed capsule is globose-
oblong. The whole plant is covered with a thick mat of
clammy hairs, especially the leaves, branches and flowers.

THE THORN APPLE — Datura Stramonium L.

Other Common Names: Jimson Weed, Jamestown
Weed, Stramonium, Devil's Apple, Mad Apple, Stinkwort.

This plant is very poisonous in all its parts. There are
a few cases of animal poisoning from its young leaves,
but it is usually avoided. Children have repeatedly been
poisoned by eating the seeds, in many cases so severely as
to cause death. The plant contains atropin and hyoscya-
min as well as other drugs. The symptoms of poisoning
are : headache, nausea, vertigo, extreme thirst, dry, burn-
ing skin and general nervous confusion, with dilated
pupils, loss of sight and of voluntary motion, and some-
times mania, convulsions and death.

The treatment is to empty the stomach by means of
stomach tube or emetics, wash it out with tannic acid,
strong tea, or an infusion of oak bark, and administer
stimulants.

The plant grows on waste ground throughout the coun-
try. It is from two to five feet high with smooth stems
and sinuately lobed leaves with the lobes taper-pointed.
The large, white flowers two inches or more in length,
are tubular, with five lobes at the apex. The seeds are
contained in ovoid capsules one to one and a half inches
long, usually covered with spines, and splitting into four
parts when ripe. The whole plant has a pronounced sick-
ening odour.

POTATO FAMILY.

14o

03

g

s

7

146 OCCASIONALLY FATAL.

THE PURPLE THORN APPLE, Datura Tatula L., has sim-
ilar effects to those of Datura Stramonium. It may be
distinguished from it by its purple stems and pale pur-
ple flowers.

THE TOBACCO PLANT, Nicotiana tabacum L., contains
the alkaloid nicotin whose action has been much discussed.
Dry leaves of the tobacco plant contain 6% of the alka-
loid, which is a very powerful and rapid poison. Dr.
Winslow summarizes the symptoms caused by swallowing
nicotin and the proper treatment in such a case. First
there is irritation and pain in the throat and stomach.
Then comes trembling and weakness, followed by con-
vulsions, which later cease. The pupils are contracted.
Then vomiting and purging and increased urination are
produced. Respiration is at first slow, then rapid.

The proper treatment is to empty the stomach and use
tannic acid and heart stimulants such as strychnin, atro-
pin or alcohol.

Nicotin cannot be held directly responsible for all the
effects due to smoking, as it is easily decomposed by heat
into pyridin and other similar alkaloids. Pyridin, in
large doses, causes depression of the spinal nerves and
paralysis of respiration.

The plant is from four to six feet high, with very large
ovate lanceolate leaves and panicles of rose-purple flow-
ers with a funnel-form corolla two inches long. It is a
native of South America.

WILD TOBACCO, Nicotiana rustica L., is found in On-
tario and southward, and was cultivated by the Indians.
Its effects are similar to those of common tobacco. It is
an annual, with ovate leaves and greenish-yellow flowers.

FlGWORT AND LOBELIA FAMILIES. 147

FIGWORT FAMILY— Scrophulariaceae.

THE PURPLE FOXGLOVE, Digitalis purpurea L., con-
tains a number of poisonous alkaloids, and is used in
medicine, chiefly as a heart stimulant. An overdose, or a
succession of full medicinal ones, will cause the heart to
lose force and become irregular. When death results it is
from failure of the circulation.

Treatment consists of the use of emetics and purga-
tives along with tannic acid and alcohol or opium.

The Foxglove is a European plant. It was introduced
into this country for decorative purposes, and has escaped
from gardens in some localities, especially along the west-
ern coast. It is a tall, pubescent, stout-stemmed biennial
herb with alternate leaves, the lower ones petioled and
ovate lanceolate and the upper sessile and smaller. The
drooping flowers are irregular, purple and spotted, and
are borne in long racemes. The corolla is tubular, and
the name digitalis comes from its fancied resemblance to
the finger of a glove.

LOBELIA FAMILY— Lobeliaceae.

THE INDIAN TOBACCO, Lobelia inflata L., known also as
Wild Tobacco, Asthma-weed, Gad-root and Lobelia, is used
in medicine for asthma and similar diseases. Its effects
are similar to those caused by somewhat smaller amounts
of tobacco. Overdoses produce prostration, stupor, coma,
convulsions, and death.

It grows in fields as far west as Saskatchewan, and is
an erect, branching, hairy annual. The leaves are toothed,
the upper ones being very small and bract-like. The
small blue flowers have an ovoid calyx-tube inflated in

148

OCCASIONALLY FATAL.

Fig. 40. — Indian Tobacco — Lobelia inflata.

SUNFLOWER FAMILY. 149

fruit. The corolla is irregular, as in all members of the
genus Lobelia, the upper lip being two lobed, and the
lower spreading and three-cleft.

SUNFLOWER FAMILY— Compositae.

TANSY, Tanacetum vulgare L., contains a violent, irrit-
ant, narcotic poison, producing spasms and convulsions,
but is very rarely eaten by animals. It was introduced
into this country from Europe, and has escaped from gar-
dens in various places.

It is a bitter and strong-scented herb, two to four feet
high, with tough parsley-like leaves. The heads, each
containing many yellow, tubular florets and few ray flor-
ets, are borne in dense flat corymbs.

Symptoms Key to the Principal Poisonous Plants

A botanical key, based on the flower structure and morphological

features of plants, has proved invaluable to botanists. The value of such

Read Carefully a key depends on the ease and definiteness with which the

before using name of a plant can be ascertained by its use. Such

the Key definiteness cannot be claimed for the work which follows.
It is, in the first place, quite conceivable that any of the symptoms
named might be caused by something other than the eating of a poisonous
plant. Even if a plant has caused the trouble, it is often impossible,
judging by symptoms alone, Jto decide definitely what particular species
is responsible. It therefore follows that the worker with poisonous species
must know his plants, as the botanist knows them, by a knowledge of and
familiarity with their distinctive characteristics.

This key is included, however, so that when an animal exhibits symp-
toms of poisoning and a plant is suspected, an idea may be rapidly gained
of the plant that should be looked for in pasture or feed. To make a com-
plete diagnosis the plant must always be found and carefully identified.

I. Injurious in Hay or Coarse Feeds. PAGE

A. Mechanical injuries to mouth and throat

—Hordeum 36

B. Nervous symptoms.

(i) Hay fed for some time:

(a) Horses — incoordination,

diarrhoea, paleness — -Equisetum 27

(b) Horses — constipation, eyes
congested, nervous weakness,

intoxication — Pteris aquilina 33

(c) Anaesthesia of extremities,

gangrene — Claviceps 18

(d) Trembling, staggering, worse

when driven — Eupalorium

urticaefolium 45
(ii) Feed recently changed — nervous
symptoms, incoordination:

151

152 SYMPTOMS KEY.

PAGE

(a) Excitement, twitching, spasms,

kidneys active — Lupinus seeds 40

(b) Nausea, nervous collapse — -Zygadenus 38, 50

(c) Horses — paralysis of tongue

and throat, nervous symptoms — Forage Poisoning 24

(d) Weak respiration, spasms,
asphyxia — after feeding on un-

cured hay - — Prunus 63

II. Injurious in Pastures, or on the Range.

A. Mechanical injuries — Hordeum 36

—Stipa 48

B. Rapid development of symptoms.

(i) Weak respiration, spasms, asphyxia — Primus 63

— Andropogon. 46

(ii) Pain, excitement, convulsions — Cicuta 74

(iii) Nausea, weakness, laboured breath-
ing, weak pulse :

(a) Attempts at swallowing, bloating — Aconitum 59

(b) Nervousness, irregular move-
ments, collapse (mostly sheep in

the west) —Zygadenus 38, 50

(c) Dizziness, loss of sight and feel-
ing, grating of teeth —Kalmia 71

- — -Andromeda 138

(d) Purging, spasms — Veratrum 53, 55

(iv) Twitching, stupor, blindness (western) — Oxytropis 66

— -Astragalus 71

(v) Excitement, incoordination, spasms — Lupinus seeds 40
(vi) Stiff ness, straddling, weakness. Cattle — Delphinium 56

C. Development of symptoms after a few
days.

(i) Pneumonia symptoms or bloating,

colic, and bloody faeces and urine. . . — Cornstalk Disease 49

(ii) Intoxication, stupor.. — Oxytropis 66

— Astragalus 71

D. Development of symptoms after weeks
or months.

(i) General run-down condition — Anemone patens 62

SYMPTOMS . KEY. 153

PAGE

(ii) Extreme sensitiveness, d i ffi c u 1 1

breathing — Helenium 84

(iii) Emaciation, intoxication, stupor,

craving for Loco- weeds — Oxytropis 66

— Astragalus 71

(iv) Rough hair, paleness, nervousness,

staggering — Senecio Jacobaea 82

(v) Trembling, constipation, staggering,

worse when driven —Eupatorium

urticaefolium 85

III. Injurious in Concentrated Feeds.

A. Rapid development of symptoms.

(i) Asphyxia, convulsions — Linum 108

(ii) Inflammation of intestines and

kidneys, staggering — Brassica 99

— Sisymbrium 102

— Erysimum 105

—Thlaspi 103

—Raphanus 106

B. Development of symptoms after con-
tinuous feeding.

(i) Anaesthesia of extremities, gangrene — Claviceps 18
(ii) Giddiness, stupefaction, dilated pupils — Lolium

temulenlum 91
(iii) Weakness, colic, vertigo, nausea,

wasting —Agrostemma 93

— Saponaria 97

IV. Poisonous Plants Rarely Affecting Animals.

A. Epidermal poisons.

(i) Inflammation for days, vesicles.. . — Rhus 134, 137

— Cypripediu m 118
(ii) Irritation and temporary inflam-
mation — Urtica 121

—Laporlea 121

B. Nausea, vomiting, purging.

(i) Burning in throat and stomach:

(a) Thirst —Ranunculus 126, 128

—Caltha 129

154 SYMPTOMS KEY.

PAGE

— Actaea 125, 126

— A risaema 116

— Iris 118

(b) Vertigo, insensibility — Sanguinaria 130

— Chelidonium 131

— Daphne 138

—Dirca 138

— Cytisus 132

(c) Temporary Blindness — Symplocarpus 115

(ii) Severe abdominal pain (not burning),

later, drowsiness, cold extremities — Podophyllum 130

— • Amanita

phalloides 113
(iii) Heart slow and strong:

(a) Then weak and irregular — Digitalis 147

— Convallaria . 116

— Phytolacca 123

(6) Corpuscles of blood dissolved. . . — Saponaria 97, 125

(iv) Prostration, stupor, coma —Nicotiana. . 146

— Lobelia inflata 147

(v) Diarrhoea, dull vision — Ricinus

communis 134

C. Dilated pupils, flushing, temperature
rises, then falls.

(i) Nausea:

(a) Dry mouth and throat — Robinia 132

— Hyoscyamus 142

—Datura 144, 146

(b) Diarrhoea, burning of stomach,

constant desire to urinate —Tanacelum 149

(ii) Staggering, loss of feeling, cramps. .. — Solatium 139,142

D. Giddiness, cold sweat, stupor, slow weak

pulse — Amanita

muscaria 110

GLOSSARY

Abortion. Premature birth.

A caulescent. Stemless.

Acridity. Sharp, bitter taste.

Acuminate. Taper-pointed.

Aleurone. The protein layer of a seed.

Alternate. One after another (used of the arrangement of leaves on a
stem).

Anaerobic. A term applied to organisms which thrive best when air is
excluded.

Anaesthesia. Loss of feeling.

Annual. Maturing in one year.

Anther. The pollen-sac of a stamen.

Antidote. A substance which counteracts a poison.

Antiferment. A preventative of fermentation.

Antitoxin. An antidote for a toxin.

Arterioles. Fine, elastic-walled blood vessels connecting arteries and capil-
laries.

Arthropods. Animals with jointed limbs like the insects, spiders, etc.

A scomycete. A fungus which bears its spores in asci.

Ascus (PI. asci). A spore sac.

Asphyxia. Suffocation.

Ataxia. Inability to coordinate voluntary movements.

Atrophy. Degeneration.

Autopsy. An examination after death.

Awns. "Beards", as in barley.

Axil. The angle between leaf and stem.

Bacillus. A rod-shaped type of bacterium.

Biennial. Maturing in two years.

Botulism. A disease produced by a bacillus living in spoiled meats, etc.

Bracts. Small abortive leaves.

Calyx. The outer whorl of a complete flower, composed of sepals, usually
green.

Capillary. A fine, thin-walled bloodvessel, where gaseous, food and other
exchange takes place.

Capsule. A short pod.

Cardiac. Relating to the heart.

156 GLOSSARY.

Carpel. A division of the pistil, composed of one stigma, one style and one

ovary.

Cerebral. Relating to the brain.
Clonic, With alternate convulsive contractions and relaxations of the

muscles.
Coma. Stupor.

Congestion. Over supply of blood.
Conidium (PI. conidia). Spore cut off from the end of a hypha of a

fungus.
Conjunctiva. The membrane covering the free surface of the ball of the

eye and the inner surface of the eyelid.
Cordate. Heart-shaped.

Corm. The base of a stem enlarged for food storage.
Corolla. The second whorl of a complete flower, composed of petals,

usually coloured.
Corymb. A raceme which is broad and flat, or only slightly convex, the

lower pedicels being lengthened.
Corymbose. Resembling a corymb.
Crenate. With rounded lobes.
Cumulative. Increasing by successive additions.

Cyme. A usually broad flower cluster with the terminal flowers oldest.
Cymose. Resembling a cyme.
Decompound. Several times compound.
Decubitus. Recumbent posture.
Deliriant. Causing frenzy.
Demulcent. Soothing.
Dissected. Cut into fine divisions.
Diuretic. A stimulant to the secretion of urine.
Drupe. A stone-fruit (e.g., the plum).
Dysentery. A disease of the large intestine characterized by fever, pain and

bloody discharges.
Ellipsoid. Resembling an ellipse.
Emetic. Anything which produces vomiting.
Endosperm. Food material of a seed outside the germ.
Enema. An intestinal injection.
Enteritis. Inflammation of the intestines.
Enzyme. A ferment.
Faecal. Relating to the faeces.
Faeces. Excretion of the bowels.
Filament. The stalk of a stamen.
Floret. One of the flowers of the head in the Sunflower Family.

GLOSSARY. 157

Frond. The vegetative or fruiting leaf of a fern.

Fungus. A member of one of the low groups of plants, without chloro-
phyll, (e.g., mushrooms, moulds, etc.).

Gangrene. Death of the body tissues in local areas, leading to decomposi-
tion.

Genus. A group of similar, or related species.

Glaucous. Covered with "bloom", as in the plum.

Glandular. Producing a secretion.

Hirsute. With stiff hairs.

Hypha. A fungus filament.

Lanceolate. Lance-shaped.

Ligule. An appendage where the leaf blade joins the sheath in such leaves
as those of the grasses.

Linear. Long and very narrow.

Lyrate. Lyre-shaped (e.g., radish leaves).

Middlings. Feed composed of the inner coats of grain.

Morphology. Gross form or structure.

Oblanceolate. Lance-shaped with the point nearest the stem.

Oblong. Several times longer than broad and with nearly parallel edges.

Oesophagus. Gullet.

Oleaginous. Oily.

Orbicular. Round or nearly round.

Ovary. The part of the pistil which contains the egg cells and later the
seeds.

Ovate. Oval with the base broader.

Ovoid. Somewhat ovate.

Palmate. Radiating from one point.

Panicle. A branching raceme.

Paraplegia. Paralysis of the legs and lower part of the body.

Parasite. An organism subsisting on the living bodies of plants or animals.

Pathological. Relating to disease.

Peduncle. Flower stalk.

Peltate. Umbrella-shaped, having a central stalk.

Pendent. Hanging.

Perennial. Living for more than two years.

Perianth. The floral envelope of certain flowers.

Petal. One of the divisions of the corolla.

Petiole. Leaf-stalk.

Pinnate. Like a feather, with veins or leaflets extending from the sides of a
midrib.

Pistil. The whole seed-bearing part of a flower.

158 GLOSSARY.

Pistillate. Pertaining to the pistil.

Polymerized. Changed into another substance, having the same atomic

proportions but a higher molecular weight.
Pubescent. Soft hairy.
Pulmonary. Relating to the lungs.

Pyloric. Relating to the pylorus, the opening from stomach to intestine.
Raceme. A flower cluster resembling a spike but with the flowers stalked.
Rachis. The central axis of a spike or of a compound leaf.
Radicle. The part of the seed that develops into the root.
Revolute. In-rolled.
Reflexed. Bent back.

Regurgitation. Expulsion of stomach contents into mouth or nose.
Rumen. The paunch, or first stomach.
Ruminants. Cud-chewing animals.
Sagittate. Arrow-shaped.
Salivation. Excessive production of saliva.
Sclerotium. The wintering stage of Ergot, the hardened mass replacing the

grain of the affected grass.

Screenings. Materials screened from grain or seed.
Sepal. One of the segments of the calyx.
Serrate. Toothed like a saw.
Sessile. Not stalked.

Serum. The thin fluid which separates from blood when it clots.
Silica. Silicon dioxide, the substance of which quartz sand is composed.
Sinapism. A mustard-plaster.
Sinuate. Wavy.

Spadix. A spike with a fleshy axis.
Spathe. The bract associated with the spadix.
Species. A group of plants or animals so nearly alike as to show only

individual differences.

Sphacelia. The stage of Ergot where summer spores are produced.
Spike. A flower cluster with sessile blossoms arranged along a stalk, the

youngest at the tip.
Spikelet. A secondary spike.
Sporangium. A spore-case.

Sporangiophore. A structure bearing sporangia.
Spore. A simple reproductive body usually composed of one cell.
Stamen. The pollen-bearing organ of a flower.
Staminate. Pertaining to stamens.
Sterile. Producing no fruit.
Stipules. Bracts at the base of a leaf.

GLOSSARY. 159

Striate. Marked with small parallel lines or channels.

Style. The part of the pistil which joins the stigma to the ovary.

Subcutaneous. Under the skin.

Symbolically. In partnership.

Tendon. A strand of white, fibrous tissue attaching, e.g., muscle to bone.

Toxic. Poisonous.

Toxin. A poisonous substance produced in diseased or decaying tissues.

Umbel. A flat-topped flower cluster with the flower stalks all coming from

one point.

Vagus. The tenth cranial nerve.
Venation. The system of veins.
Vertigo. Dizziness or giddiness.
Volatile. Evaporating under ordinary conditions.
Vomilion. Vomiting.

INDEX

Abortion, sporadic caused by

Ergot 19

Aconitum 59

columbianum 59

ferox 60

Napellus 60

Acorus calamus 118

Actaea alba 125

rubra 126

Agaric, Fly 110

Agropyron repens 22

Smithii 22,23

Agrostemma Githago 93

Agrostis alba 24

Alkali Grass 50

Amanita 109

Bulbous 113

Fly 110

Amanita muscaria 110

phalloides 113

Amanita, Poison 113

American Pulsatilla 62

White Hellebore 53

Anacardiaceae 134

Andromeda polifolia 138

Andropogon 46

Anemone patens var Wolfgan-

giana 62

Anemone, Prairie 62

Apple, Devil's 130, 144

Mad 144

May 130

Purple Thorn 146

Thorn 144

Araceae 115

Aragallus 66

Arisaema triphyllum 116

Arum Family 115

Arum, Three-leaved 116

Ascospore 21,22

Ascus 21,22

A spergillus fumigatus 25

Asthma-weed 147

Astragalus 71

mollissimus 71

Bacillus botulinus 25

Bacteria 18

growth on forage 17

Baneberry, Red 126

White 125

Barberry Family 130

Barley, 38

Little 38

Wild 36,38

Bay, Dwarf 138

Beads, White 125

Bean, Blue 40

Wild 40

Bearded Darnel 91

Beaver Poison 74

Berberidaceae 130

Berry, Scarlet 139

Biting Crowfoot 126

Bittersweet 139

-nightshade 139

Black Cherry, Wild 63

Henbane 142

Locust 132

Nightshade 139

Blisterwort 126

Bloodroot 130

Blue Bean 40

Grass, Kentucky 24

Flag 118

-joint Grass 23,24

Pea. . 40

162

INDEX

Boneset, Deerwort- 85

Bottlebrush Grass 22

Bouncing Bet 125

Bracken 33

Brassica arvensis 99

sinapistrum 99

British Ragwort 82

Broom, Scotch 132

Bulbous Amanita 113

Water Hemlock 79

Bush, Fetter- 138

Buttercup Family 56, 125

Buttercup, Common 128

Tall 128

Buttons, Soldiers- 129

Cabbage, Skunk 115

Swamp 115

Calamagroslis canadensis 23, 24

California Swamp Hellebore . 55

Calomel, Vegetable 130

Caltha asarifolia 129

biflora li_><>

chelidonii 129

leptosepala 129

palustris 129

Camas, Death 38, 50

Poison 50

Smooth 38

Swamp 38

Campion, Corn 93

Cap, Friar's 59

Carrot Family 74

Caryophyllaceae 93, 125

Castor Oil Plant 134

Celandine, Greater 131

Celery-leaved Crowfoot 126

Charlock <»9

China Cockle 97

Chelidoniiim majnx 131

< lu-rry, Choke 64

Pin

Rum

Western Choke.
Wild Black. . ..

Wild Red

Cicuta . .

64

63

....... 64

63

64

74

bulbifera 79

maculata 78

vagans 78

Clammy Locust 132

Claviceps pur pur ea 18

Cockle, China 97

Cow 97

Corn 93

Purple 93

Spring, 97

Common Buttercup 128

Nightshade 139

Compositae 45, 82, 149

Conidia 22

Conitim maculatum 79

Convallaria majalis 116

Coral and Pearls 125

Corn Campion 93

Corn, forage poisoning by.. . . 24

Corn Cockle 93

Corn, Kaffir 46,48

Corn Rose 93

Cornstalk Disease 49

Couch Grass 22

Cowbane, 74

Spotted 74

Cow Cockle 97

-grass 38

Herb 97

Crazy Weed 66

Crocus, Prairie 62

Cowslip 129

Crowfoot, 126

Biting 126

Celery-leaved.. 126

INDEX

in:;

Cursed 1 2(>

Small-flowered 128

Cruciferae 99

Cup, Death 113

Cypripedium 118-

hirsutum 118,119,121

parviflorum 120

ptibescens 120

Cytisus scoparius 132

Daphne Mezereum 138

Darnel, 91

Bearded 91

Poison 91

White 91

Datura Stramonium 144

Tatula 146

Deadly Nightshade 139

Death Camas 38, 50

Cup 113

Deerwort-boneset 85

Delphinium 56

Staphisagria 56

Devil's Apple 130, 144

-bite 53

Digitalis purpurea 147

Dirca palustris 138

Doll's Eyes 1 25

Dwarf Bay 138

Elymus canadensis 22

diversiglumis 23

robustus 22

striatus 22

virginicus 22

Ensilage, poisoning from .... 17

Equisetaceae 27

Equisetosis 28

Equisetum arvense. . 28, 29, 30, 31, 32

hyemale 32

palustre 32

sylvaticum 32

Ergot 18

Ergotism, acute 19

chronic 18

gangrenous 18

spasmodic 19

Ericaceae 71 , 138

Rrysirnum cherianthr-ides 105

Euphorbiaceae 134

Eupatoriitm urticaefclium .... -45, 85

Eyes, Doll's 125

False Hellebore 53

Sunflower 84

Feeds, see Ground, Hay, etc.

Fern Family 33

Fetter-bush , .. 138

Field Horsetail . . . .28, 29, 30, 31, 32

Pennycress 103

Figwort Family 147

Filicineae 33

Flag, Blue 118

Pqison 118

Sweet 118

Water 118

Flax 1C8

Family 1C8

Fleur-de-lis 118

Floating Manna C.ra-s •_' 1

Flower, Moccasin 118

Pasque 62

Fly Agaric 110

Amanita 110

Fungus 110

Foetid Nightshade 142

Fly Killer. . 110

Forage poisoning 24

Foxglove, Purple 147

Foxtail 36,38

Frenchweed 103

Friar's Cap 59

Fungi IS, 109

Fungus, Fly 110

164

INDEX

Gad-root 147

Gangrene 19

Garden Nightshade 139

Garget 123

Githagism 95

Gylceria fluitans 24

Gramineae 36, 46, 91

Grass, Awned Wheat 23

Alkali 50

Blue-joint 23,24

Bottlebrush 22

Couch 22

Grass Family 36, 46, 91

Grass, Floating Manna 24

Kentucky Blue 24

Low Spear 24

Mystery 50

Needle 49

Porcupine 48

Skunk 36

Skunk-tail , 36

Spear 48

Squirrel-tail 36

Sudan 48

Western Wheat 22, 23

Greater Celandine 131

Green Lily 38

Ground Feeds, Plants Danger-
ous in 90

Ground Lemon 130

Hat, Iron 59

Hay, forage poisoning by. ... 24

Plants Dangerous in 17

Heath Family 71, 138

Helenium autumnale 84

Hellebore, American White . . 53

California Swamp 55

False 53

Swamp 53

Hemlock, Bulbous Water. ... 79

Oregon Water 78

Poison 79

Spotted 74

Water 74

Henbane, Black 142

Herb, Cow 97

Herrick 99

Hog Potato 50

Hordeum jubatum 36

murinum 38

secalinum 38

Horsetail Family 27

Horsetail, Field.. . .28, 29, 30, 31, 32

Winter 31,32

Hyoscyamus niger 142

Hystrix Hystrix 22

Impatiens biflora 121

Indian Poke 53

Sanicle 85

Tobacco 147

Turnip 116

Insane Root 142

Iridaceae 118

Iris Family 118

Iris versicolor 118

Iris, Wild 118

Iron Hat 59

Ivy, Poison 134

Three-leaved 134

Western Poison 137

Jack-in-the-Pulpit 116

Jamestown Weed 144

Jewel Weed 121

Jimson Weed 144

Kaffir Corn 46,48

Kalmia 71

auguslifolia 74

latifolia 73

polifolia 74

INDEX

165

Kentucky Blue Grass 24

Key to Poisonous Plants .... 150

Lady-laurel 138

Lady-slipper, 118

Large Yellow 120

Showy 118,119,121

Smaller Yellow 120

Laportea canadensis 121

Large Yellow Lady-slipper. . . 120

Larkspurs 56, 62

Laurel, Lady- 138

Mountain 73

Pale 74

Sheep 74

Spurge 138

Laurels 71

Leatherwood 138

Family 138

Leguminosae 40, 66, 131

Lemon, Ground 130

Wild 130

Liliaceae 38, 50, 116

Lily Family 38, 50, 116

Lily, Green 38

Lily of the Valley 116

Lily, Poison 50

Linaceae 108

Linum usitatissimum. 108

Little Barley 38

Lobelia 50,147

Lobeliaceae 147

Lobelia Family 147

Lobelia inflata 147

Locoism, acute 68

chronic 66

Loco Vetch 66

Weed 66,71

Weed, Stemless 66

Loco, White 66

Locust, Black 132

Clammy 132

Lolium lemulentum 91

Low Spear Grass 24

Lupines 40

Lupinosis 43

Lupinus 40

perennis 41, 44

Mad Apple 144

Mandrake 130

Manna Grass, Floating 24

Marsh Marigold 129

May Apple 130

Meadow Poke 53

M( xt-reon 138

Milksickness 86

Milk Vetch 71

Moccasin Flower 118

Monkshood 59

Moosewood 138

Moulds, growth on forage.. . . 17, 24

Mountain Laurel 73

Musquash Root 74

Mustard Family. . . , 99

Mustard, Tumbling 102

Wild 99

Wormseed 104, 105

Mystery Plant 138

Grass 50

Xi< klace- Weed 125

Needle Grass 49

Xettle Family 121

Nettle, Slender 121

Xettle, Smallest Stinging. . . . 121

Stinging 121

Western 121

Wood 121

Nicotiana rustica 146

tabacum 146

Xightshade, Bittersweet-. . . . 139

Black.. 139

166

IXDEX

Common . . '.

.. 139

Poa annua

24

Deadlv

.. 139

pratensis

24

Foetid

. . 142

Podophyllum peltatum . .

130

Garden

. . 139

Poison Amanita

113

Prairie

.. 142

Camas

50

Spreading

.. 142

Darnel

91

Three-flowered

.. 142

Flag

118

Woodv

. . 139

Hemlock

79

Oak, Poison-

134, 137

lyy

134

Oats, ergotized

22

Ivy, Western

137

Onion, Poison

.. 50

Lily

50

Orchidaceae

.. 118

-oak

. . . 134, 137

Orchid Family

.. 118

Onion

50

Oregon Water Hemlock . . .

.. 78

Poke

123

Ox-eye, Yellow

.. 84

Sego

50

Oxytropis

.. 66

Sumac

137

deflexa

.. 70

-tobacco

142

foliolosa

70

-vine

134

Lamberti

69

Poke, Indian

53

Meadow

53

Pale Laurel

74

Poison

123

Papaveraceae

. . 130

Pokeweed

123

Paradise Plant

. . 138

Familv

123

Parslev, Spotted

.. 79

Polecat-weed

115

Water

. . 81

Poppv Family

130

Wild

.. 74

Porcupine Grass

48

Pasque Flower

.. 62

Potato Familv

139

Pasture, Plants Dangerous

in 46

Potato, Hog

50

Pea, Blue

40

Prairie Anemone

62

Pea Familv 4C

i, 66, 131

Crocus

62

Vine
Pea, Wild

40
.. 40

Nightshade

142
62

Pennycress, Field
Perithecium

103
21

Thermopsis

131

Phleum pra tense

..23,24

Primus

63

Phvtolafcaceae

. . 123

demissa

64

Phvto/iiftd derandra

. . 123

penns\h'iinicii

64

Pictou Cattle Disease. . . .

.. . 82

serotina

63

Pigeon-berry

. 123

virginiana

M

Pin Cherry.

64

Pteris aquilina

:;:;

Pink Family

.it:;. 125

Pulsatilla, American, . .

62

16,

Purple Cockle 93

Foxglove 117

Thorn Apple 146

Radish, Wild 10f>

Ragwort 82

British 82

Range, Plants Dangerous on. 40

Ranunctilaccae 50, 12f>

Ranunculus abort irits 128

acris 128

sceleratus . . 126

Raphanus Raphanistrum 106

Red Baneberry 123

Cherry, Wild 04

Top 24

Rhus diver siloba 13.">

Rydbergi 137

Toxicodendron 134

Rich weed So

Ricinus communis 134

Robinia Pseudo-Acacia 132

viscosa 132

Rope-bark 138

Root, Gad- 147

Insane 142

Musquash 74

Rosaceae 03

Rose, Corn 93

Rose Family 03

Rum Cherry 03

Rye, " 22,23

Wild 22,2:;

Sanguinaria canadeiisis 130

Sanicle, Indian v~i

White 85

Saponaria officinal is 125

Vaccaria 97

Scarlet Berry 139

Sclerotium of Ergot 20, 21

Scoke 123

Scotch Broom 132

Scouring-rush 31

Scrophulariaceae 147

Secale cereale 22,23

Sego, Poison 50

Senecio Jacobaea 82

Sheep Laurel 74

Showy Lady-slipper. . . 118, 119, 121

Silage 24

Sisynihriuw altissinutm 102

Sinm cicutaefolium 81

Skunk Cabbage 115

Grass 36

-tail Grass 36

Slender Nettle 121

Slipper, Lady- 118

Smaller Yellow Lady-slipper. 120

Smallest Stinging Nettle 121

Small Flowered Crowfoot. . . . 128

Smoke, Prairie 62

Smooth Camas 38

Snakeroot, White 45, 85

Sneezeweed 84

Soapwort 125

Solanaceae 139

Solatium Dulcamara 139

triflorum 142

Soldiers-buttons 129

Sorghum, 46

Sweet 48

Spear Grass, 48

Low 21

Sphacelia stage of Ergot .... 22

Spotted Cowbane 74

Hemlock 71

Parsley 79

Spreading Nightshade 142

Spring Cockle 97

Spurge Family 134

Laurel . 138

168

INDEX

Squawweed 85

Squirrel-tail Grass 36

Staggers ,r 33

Staggerweed 84

Staggerwort 82

Stavesacre 56

Stemless Loco Weed 66

Stinging Nettle, 121

Smallest 121

Stinking Willie 82

Stinkweed 103

Stinkwort 144

Stipa comata 49

spartea 48

Stramonium 144

Straw, Poisonous Plants in. . . 17

Stroma 22

Sudan Grass 48

Sumac Family 134

Sumac, Poison 137

Swamp 137

Sunflower, False 84

Sunflower Family 45, 82. 149

Sunflower, Swamp 84

Swamp Cabbage 115

Camas 38

Hellebore 53

Hellebore, California 55

Sumac 137

Sunflower .84

Swampwood 138

Sweet Flag 118

Sorghum 48

Symplocarpus foetidus : 115

Symptoms Key 150

Tall Buttercup 128

Tanacetum vulgare 149

Tansy 149

Tansy-ragwort 82

Tares. . 91

Thermopsis, Prairie J31

Thermopsis rhombifolia 131

Thlaspi arvense 103

Thorn Apple 144

Purple 146

Three-flowered Nightshade . . 142

Three-leaved Arum 116

Ivy 134

Thymelaceae 138

Timothy 23,24

Tobacco, 146

Indian 147

Poison- 142

Wild 146,147

Trembles .45,86

Tumbling Mustard 102

Turnip, Indian 116

Wild 116

Umbclliferae 74

Umbrella-plant 130

Urticaceae 121

Urtica dioica 121

gracilh 121

Lyallii 121

urens 121

Vegetable Calomel 130

Veratrum californicum 55

viride 53

Vetch, Loco 66

Milk 71

Vine, Poison- 134

Water Flag 118

Hemlock 74

Hemlock, Bulbous 79

Hemlock, Oregon 78

Parsnip 81

Weed, Asthma- 147

Weed, Crazy 66

INDEX

169

Jamestown 144

Jewel 121

Jimson 144

Loco (56,71

Necklace- 125

Polecat- 115

Stemless Loco 66

Western Choke Cherry 64

Nettle 121

Poison Ivy 137

Wheat 22

Wheat Grass, Awned 23

Western 22,23

White Baneberry 125

Beads 125

Darnel 91

Loco 66

Sanicle 85

Snakeroot 45, 85

Top 85

Wicopy 138

Wild Barley 36,38

Bean 40

Black Cherry 63

Iris 118

Lemon 130

Mustard 99

Parsnip 74

Pea 40

Radish 106

Red Cherry 64

Rye 22,23

Tobacco 146, 147

Turnip 116

Willie, Stinking 82

Winter Horsetail 31, 32

Wolfsbane 59

Wood Nettle 121

Woody Nightshade 139

Wormseed Mustard. . . . 104, 105

Yellow Lady-slipper, Large .

Smaller

Yellow Ox-eye

Zygademis elegans.
venenosus. .

120
120

84

38
50

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