19191 VBTERTNARY MEDICINE. 783 



Due to awns or beards on this grass it is one of the worst pests occurring 

 in Nevada, not only because it is directly or indirectly responsible for loss of 

 condition and death of sheep but also because of the pain and suffering pro- 

 duced when fed in hay. This grass is now widely and abundantly distributed 

 in Nevada and across North America. In many places it is becoming a serious 

 menace on land which is used for the production of hay. It is dangerous as 

 soon as it heads, which at Reno is about June 1, and when dried and fed in 

 considerable quantities it becomes obnoxious and destructive. 



" The number of sSeds in a head varies from 30 to 60, with an average of 

 approximately 40 seeds to the head. A plant 4 inches across the crown 

 will produce about 50 heads to the plant with a total of approximately 2,000 

 seeds or 14,000 awns per plant." 



Being a perennial it is dillicult to control. A practical means of preventing 

 losses from it on haylands is to graze with sheep early in the spring when the 

 grass is high enough to be tempting and palatable. In this way the vitality of 

 the squirrel tail grass is reduced and the other grasses are given an even chance 

 to grow. 



The injury when fed to live stock is caused by infestation of the delicate 

 tissues in the region of the eye, the membranes of the mouth, the sides of 

 the jaw, or the avooI of the head, neck, and back. As soon as the awns be- 

 come lodged, they begin to work into the flesh, causing injuries which affect 

 the condition of the animal and frequently lead to very serious consequences 

 or death. 



" In the examination of heads of sheep the following types of injury were 

 observed: (1) Some a\vns found in the ears, where they caused abscesses, 

 due to mechanical injury and subsequent infection by bacteria; or (2) in the 

 mucous membranes of the upper and lower eyelids, causing inflammation with 

 a discharge of a yellowish-white opaque creamy pus. (3) They were commonly 

 found between the eyeball and the tissues of the orbit, cnusing semi or total 

 blindness. (4) Many awns had penetrated the skin of the head between the 

 nose and the forehead or on the cheek and around the eye, causing the wool 

 and hair to slough off with the formation of pustules, or small abscesses. (5) 

 They had become imbedded in the lips, causing redness and swelling, with a 

 formation of small pimple-like elevations filled with pus. (6) Awns were 

 common on all surfaces of the tongue; and (7) in the openings of the gland 

 secreting into the mouth. (8) Others had penetrated into the nasal passages, 

 causing extreme iri-itation. (9) In nearly all heads examined, masses of 

 awns were imbedded in the gums beside the molars of both upper and lower 

 jaws. (10) They had worked in around the incisors and caused them to loosen 

 in their sockets and fall out. The gums had shrunken away from the teeth 

 and in many cases there was ulceration and decay. In other instances they 

 were imbedded in the palate. (11) Many were found in the soft tissues under 

 the tongue." 



Brief accounts are given of the findings in examinations made of 21 heads 

 selected at random, March 14, 1919, from a pile of over 800 carcasses of range 

 ewes that had been feeding on hay containing a high percentage of squirrel 

 tail grass. Yearling lambs and aged ewes were found to suffer the most, and 

 Merino and Rambouillet sheep to be injured more than the more open-wooled 

 and smooth-bodied breeds. 



Bacillus necrophorus infection in swine, H. R. Schwarze (Amer. Jour. Vet. 

 Med., IJf (1919), No. 2, pp. 51-54). — The author reports upon eight cases investi- 

 gated, both clinically in the field and bacteriologically at the State laboratory 

 at Springfield, 111. 



