270 CROTALARIA BURKEANA. 



gradually gets better. One tablespoonful each of turpentine, 

 paraffin and raw linseed oil has also been recommended (18). 



Feeding Tests. — Difficulty was experienced in securing enough 

 material for a feeding test ; when at length sufficient was obtained 

 it was sent to Dr. Theiler ; 6A lb. of the dried plant was fed to 

 four bastard sheep under the supervision of G. V. S. Johnston, 

 in April, 1906, but no results were obtained. The material was 

 somewhat mouldy, having been delayed in transit from the Free 

 State. Mr. Johnston suggested the possibility that the toxic 

 properties might have escaped during the process of evaporation, 

 which reduced the weight of the parcel from 10 lb. to 6-^ lb. In 

 the case of Crotalaria sagittalis, however, the dry hay is equally 

 liable to cause the disease. It seems possible that the bastard 

 sheep is, like the goat, more or less immune to some toxins, as 

 was suggested at the time by Stock Inspector Everitt. 



Reports from farmers continued to reach me to the effect 

 that this plant caused loss of stock. Owing to the fact that 

 other species of Crotalaria, in other parts of the world, are known 

 to cause death, I felt confident that there was some foundation 

 for the suspicion under which our plant was held by the Boers. 

 I, therefore, arranged to have a further test made, but difficulty 

 was again experienced in securing enough material. In April, 

 jqio, however, about 12 lb. was collected by Mr. W. F. Wil- 

 liams, \^ogels Rand, Ventersburg Road, in the Free State, and 

 sent to Dr. Theiler. This was fed to an animal, but without 

 result, which seems to indicate that there is a loss of toxicity in 

 the process of drying, but it may have been that the quantity fed 

 was insufficient and the feeding not continued for a sufficient 

 period. 



In the meantime, however, the Government Veterinary Sur- 

 geons at Zeerust and Barberton, working under Dr. Theiler's 

 direction, had succeeded in producing the disease Styfziekte by 

 feeding animals with Crotalaria hurkeaua. Specimens of the 

 plant being fed were submitted to me from time to time, for 

 identification. It having been proved that the plant is the 

 cause of the disease, some account of its habit of growth and dis- 

 tribution may be of use to Veterinary Surgeons and farmers. 



Description of the Genus. — The genus Crotalaria of Linnaeus, 

 belongs to the Family Leguminosae, Sub-family Papilionaceae and 

 the Tribe Genisteac. It differs from other South African genera 

 of this tribe by the usually stipulate leaves which are either simple 

 or palmately compound, the sharply rostrate carina, very inflated 

 legume, and racemose or scattered (not umbellate) flowers. It is 

 described as follows : — Calyx sub-bilabiate, the upper lip bifid, the 

 lower trifid. \'cxilluni large, cordate ; carina falcate-acuminate. 

 Stamens monadelphous. Ovary 2- or many-ovuled ; stvle elongate, 

 knee-bent, often laterally pubescent. Legume turgid, with verv 

 convex valves, sessile or stipulate, few or many-seeded. 



The Crotalarias are either herbs or shrubs, and are common 

 throughout the tropics and sub-tropics of both hemispheres. 

 Leaves either simple or palmately 3 — 5 — 7 — foliolate, commonlv 

 stipulate ; bracts and stipules sometimes wanting. Flowers either 

 racemose or sub-solitary, but not umbellate. Some species of 



