DEATH CAMAS. 53 



and Montana, and from as far east as South Dakota. Our attention 

 was particularly called to the abundance and wide distribution of Z. 

 ven<moH%LS in Montana, and to its fatal effect upon stock, b}' Mr. Thomas 

 B. Magee, Browning, Montana. Prof. F. H. Hillman, of the Agri- 

 cultural Experiment Station of Nevada, has caiied attention in two 

 short newspaper ]julletins to the poisonous nature of the wild sego 

 {Z. jtaniculattis S.Wats). 



It is impossible to state definiteh' whether the parts of the plant 

 above ground or the bulbs ra'e responsible for the most cases of poi- 

 soning. Feeding experiments show conclusivel}" that both the leaves 

 and bulbs are poisonous. Apparently, however, the bulbs are more 

 actively poisonous than the leaves. Whether the sheep eat the bulbs 

 of death camas or not, depends almost entirely on the condition of 

 the ground in each individual case. If the ground is at all dr}^ or 

 only moderatel}^ moist, it is absolutely impossible for sheep to pull up 

 the bulb with the stem. We had experimented with hundreds of death 

 camas plants for the purpose of determining this point, and had come 

 to the provisional conclusion that it is impossible to pull up the bulbs 

 with the stems. In collecting some plants immediately after a heavy 

 rain storm, however, it was found that the bulbs could readily be 

 l)ulled through the soft ground. About three out of five plants pulled 

 in the ordinar}' manner came up with the bulbs attached. 



During the season of 1900, sheep died from eating death camas at 

 various dates in the month of May and in the earlier part of June. 

 The earliest date was April 25, and the greatest amount of poisoning 

 occurred between May 5 and Ma}^ 20. From notes made in the field 

 it appears that 636 sheep died during the season of 1900 from the 

 efi'ect of eating Zygadenus, while the total number poisoned by this 

 plant was 3,030. About 21 per cent of the number affected died, while 

 the remaining 79 per cent recovered. This death rate may be slightly 

 lower or higher than the average rate for this plant, direct observa- 

 tions on this point being limited to this single year. The figures as 

 given are based on the death or recovery of adult sheep, and do not 

 include fatalities among lambs. The death rate among lambs was in 

 many instances considerably higher than that of the adult sheep, and 

 this observation applies to laml)s which had not begun to eat grass or 

 other plants, but which were poisoned by the ewe's milk. It is of 

 interest to observe that a considerable number of lambs died from the 

 effects of the milk of ewes which were themselves only slightly affected 

 by the death camas. The death rate is, therefore, in reality slightly 

 higher than the figures already given would indicate, for the reason, 

 as already mentioned, that deaths among the lambs were not included 

 in the figures, and for the further reason that the death of an ewe at 

 a time when the lamb is not older than 2 weeks means the ultimate 

 death of the lamb. It is the general observation of sheep men that 



