62 POISONOUS PLANTS 



deeply notched, they appear to have ten in each 

 flower. 



This species has been proved to be very injurious, 

 especially to horses on the Continent, and probably 

 also to cattle. The motion of animals which had 

 eaten it in fresh hay was awkward, their hinder 

 parts weak. There was fever, sweating, redness 

 of the eyelids, a stupefied condition, with inability 

 to stand or walk. The treatment adopted consisted 

 in changing the food, cold applications to the head, 

 and the administration of saltpetre internally. 



The poisonous effects appear to have been very 

 great in the South Russian steppes. Of a drove 

 of oxen fed on hay containing this Stitchwort, all 

 were affected with colic, and seven died. Out of 

 three hundred artillery horses during the Crimean 

 War, which were fed on hay containing it, no 

 less than seventy fell during the first twenty- 

 four hours. Many other cases of poisoning are 

 known. 



It is supposed that the injurious effect is due to 

 a narcotic property which, in about six months 

 after drying in hay, appears to lose its effect. 



Whether this common English plant is as poi- 

 sonous as the Russian one, which is a variety of 

 »S. graminea, known as hippoctona, it is impossible 

 to say ; but as no complaints by English farmers 

 have been made, it may be free from the poisonous 

 principle, as is often the case with plants growing 



