DEATH CAMAS. 63 



fact that in cases where a large number of sheep were poisoned at the 

 same time by eating death camas, a striking variation was noticed in 

 the length of time required for the development of the symptoms of 

 poisoning in different sheep. This observation seems especiall}' inter- 

 esting in view of the fact that ordinarily a band of sheep is moved to 

 another locality as soon as symptoms of poisoning are noticed. Some- 

 times the band is immediate!}' driven to a corral. Even under these 

 circumstances the time at which the first symptoms of poisoning appear 

 may varj^ from one to five or more hours. The only reasonable expla- 

 nation which suggests itself is to be found in the anatomy and habits 

 of the sheep. As is well known, the first stomach of a sheep is capable 

 of containing a large quantity of material. It is another fact of every- 

 day observation that sheep are ordinarily not contented, and do not 

 lie down for noonday rest until this stomach is completely filled. It 

 will readih" be understood that a given quantity of a poisonous plant 

 eaten along with a much larger quantity of grass, would naturally 

 come to occupy different positions in the stomach in different sheep. 

 Evidently the sheep is not affected by a poisonous plant until its sub- 

 stance is dissolved and absorbed into the general circulation. It might 

 well happen that a quantity of the poisonous plant, sufficient to cause 

 death, could be in the center of a great mass of other material found in 

 the first stomach. In such a position the poison would certainly not 

 affect the sheep, and it would be evidently impossible to predict, how 

 soon it might come to lie against the wall of the first stomach, or how 

 soon it might be taken up, masticated, and swallowed into the diges- 

 tive stomach. The time at which this takes place will naturally vary 

 in different sheep, and consequently the time at which the first S3^mp- 

 toms of poisoning are manifested will vary in the same manner. In 

 the case of animals which have only a single comparatively small 

 stomach, as in the horse and pig, it would be manifestly impossible for 

 so long a time to intervene after eating poisonous plants before the 

 sj^mptoms of poisoning are manifested. 



From observation and experiment, the evidence establishing the 

 poisonous nature of death camas seems quite conclusive. In making- 

 post-mortem examinations of sheep which had died with the above- 

 mentioned symptoms the stomach contents were carefully studied with 

 the result that the leaves, ffowering stems or bulbs of death camas 

 were found in every case. Sheep which were seen eating the plant 

 when feeding at leisure upon the range showed within a few hours the 

 symptoms described. In looking over the ranges where the sheep had 

 been poisoned death camas was found growing abundantlj^ in the exact 

 localities where the sheep were poisoned. A study of these localities 

 showed that death camas had been eaten extensivel}- there and careful 

 investigation failed to disclose the presence of any other plant which 



