54 Loco Weeds. [zoe 



Dr. Isaac Ott, in the American Journal of Pharmacy, tells of his ex- 

 periments on frogs and other lower animals with an alkaloid which 

 he obtained from Astragalus mollissimus. He formulates its action 

 as follows: " i. It decreases the irritability of the motor nerves. 2. 

 It greatly affects the sensatory ganglia of the central nervous sys- 

 tem, preventing them from receiving impressions. 3. It has a 

 spinal tetanic action. 4. It kills mainly by arrest of the heart. 5. 

 It increases the salivary secretion. 6. It has a stupefying action on 

 the brain. 7. It reduces the cardiac force and frequency. 8. It 

 temporarily increases arterial tension and finally decreases it. g. 

 It greatly dilates the pupil of the eye." Professor Sayre tried the 

 effect of a concentrated solution of this drug upon himself, com- 

 mencing with a small amount but increasing to a dose of an ounce 

 every three hours. He perceived no effects except a slight stimu- 

 lation of the stomach and circulation. During the summer of 1887 

 and 1888 he traveled through Indian Territory, Kansas, Colorado 

 and New Mexico, inspecting the herds, but did not find a single an- 

 imal having the symptoms commonly ascribed to the locoed. Pro- 

 fessor Sayre is strongly of the opinion that the effects attributed to 

 loco must come from some other cause. 



Dr. Mary Gage Day, in an article in the New York Medical 

 Journal, describing a series of experiments carried on for a year and 

 a half, arrives at a different conclusion. She made a decoction of 

 roots, stems and leaves, and daily gave sixty or seventy cubic cen- 

 timeters to a half-grown vigorous kitten while plenty of milk and 

 other food was also supplied. She thus describes the results: "The 

 kitten became less active, the coat grew rough, appetite for ordina- 

 ry food diminished and fondness for the loco increased, diarrhoea 

 came on and retching and vomiting occasional!}' occurred. The 

 expression became peculiar and characteristic. Emaciation and 

 the above symptoms progressively increased until the eighteenth 

 day, when periods of convulsive excitement supervened. At times 

 the convulsions were tetanic in character; frothing at the mouth and 

 throwing the head backwards as in opisthotonos were marked. At 

 other times the kitten would stand on its hind legs and strike the 

 air with its fore paws, then fall backward and throw itself from side 

 to side. These periods of excitement were followed by perfect 

 quiet, the only apparent sign of life being the respiratory move- 

 ments. After a short interval of quiet the convulsive movements 



