EXPERIMENTS WITH DEATH CAMAS. 59 



twentieth, one-tenth, and one-fifth grain doses, hypodermic injections 

 of atropine in one-sixtieth and one-thirtieth grain doses, and solutions 

 of potassium permanganate. The strychnine and atropine were given 

 by means of the ordinary hypodermic syringe in different parts of the 

 body, usually behind the front leg in the bare area of skin at that point. 

 The atropine was given both alone and with morphine, as is customary 

 in human practice. The potassium permanganate was given in 4-grain 

 doses, and each dose contained also 1 grain of aluminum sulphate. 

 Both these substances were pulverized and dissolved in about a pint of 

 water. Doses were given both as a drench and by means of direct 

 injection through the body wall into the stomach. In some cases also 

 the sheep were allowed to drink the solution. The results which were 

 obtained did not indicate any advantage in favor of any method, for in 

 all cases the solutions seemed to be equally effective, whether given as 

 a drench, injected directly into the stomach, or as a drink. For inject- 

 ing the solution directly into the stomach a large aspirating syringe 

 was used. The solution when applied in this way was kept in a bottle 

 connected by means of a rubber tube with the syringe. An ordinary 

 trochar and canula were used for penetrating into the stomach. By 

 means of this apparatus a half pint of the solution could be very quickly 

 pumped into the stomach. The process requires, however, rather more 

 time than the drenching method, and since the action of the solution 

 was no' more effective when injected directly into the stomach than 

 when given as a drench, the drenching method will probably be pre- 

 ferred by stockmen as being shorter and more convenient. 



The first experiment with these remedies and methods was made on 

 May 15, 1900, on a sheep range near Great Falls. A number of sheep 

 had been poisoned by Zygadenus two days previously. About 20 of 

 the most severe cases had been hauled into a covered shed. Here the 

 sheep were lying upon their sides in the condition of complete paralysis 

 referred to in the description of the symptoms of poisoning from this 

 plant. Five of the sheep were given hypodermic injections of strych- 

 nine, 5 others similar injections of atropine, 5 others solutions of 

 potassium permanganate, and the remaining 5 were left without treat- 

 ment. Of the 5 sheep which were treated with potassium perman- 

 ganate 2 were drenched, 2 others received direct injections into the 

 stomach, and 1 was allowed to drink the solution from a small bucket. 

 Of the 5 which were treated with strychnine, 2 sheep received one- 

 twentieth grain, 2 one-tenth grain, and 1 one-fifth grain. Of the 5 

 which were treated with atropine, 2 received one-sixtieth and 3 one- 

 thirtieth grain. All these sheep were examined three hours later, 

 when it was found that the 5 which had been given potassium perman- 

 ganate were in a much improved condition and were able to walk. 

 The herder, who watched the sheep during this period, stated that 



