VOL. III.] Loco Weeds. 55 



would recur. These alternate periods of excitement and quiet last- 

 ed thirty-six hours, when the posterior extremities became paralyzed 

 and the kitten died about two hours afterwards. There was no ap- 

 parent loss of consciousness before death. The post-mortem exam- 

 ination revealed the presence of ulcers in the stomach and duode- 

 num. The heart was in diastole; brain and myelon appeared nor- 

 mal. As might be expected from the emaciation the entire body 

 was anaemic." 



She tried the same experiment on a vigorous full-grown cat with 

 the same results. Two strong young cats were confined and treated 

 exactly the same, except that one was given a decoction of loco 

 daily. The latter became diseased while the other remained healthy. 

 The cats acquired a decided liking for the new drink and would beg 

 for it as for milk. To discover its effects upon an herbivorous an- 

 imal she tried feeding fresh loco to ayoung jackrabbit that had been 

 captured. After refusing the weed for a short time it began to rel- 

 ish it and eat it as eagerly as grass. In about ten days the rabbit 

 was found dead with its head thrown back and stomach ruptured. 

 She thinks that the plant is more poisonous in the fall and winter, 

 after the seeds have ripened. The plants used in her experiments 

 were Astragalus inollissimus and Oxytropis Lamberii. These are 

 her final conclusions: "I. That there is some poison in loco weed 

 which may cause the illness, and, if sufficient quantity is taken, the 

 death of an animal. II. This poison is contained in the decoction 

 obtained from the plants, and by systematically feeding it to healthy 

 cats cases of loco disease may be produced. III. Taste far the 

 green loco weed may be experimentally produced in the jackrabbit 

 (an animal indigenous to Kansas). IV. From the large quantity 

 of the plant or decoction required to produce the disease, the poison 

 must be weak, or, if strong, it must be in a very small amount." 



Dr. Day's conclusions are certainly the more convincing, for her 

 experiments were kept up for some time; while in the other cases 

 but few doses were given. Her methods, too, were more in accord- 

 ance with the manner in which an animal on the range would be- 

 come poisoned. 



In 1882, 1883 and 1884 a fatal disease prevailed among the horses 

 along the Missouri valley in Iowa, Nebraska and Dakota. Dr. M. 

 Stalker, State Veterinarian of Iowa, discovered it to be due to Cro- 

 talaria sagittalis. The symptoms were similar to those produced 



