WHITE LOCU WEED. 91 



more was given in the same way. The uneasiness continued, and at 

 3.25 the animal was quite drowsy, a sj^^mptom which continued until 

 3.50. At 4.5 its appetite was better. Twenty cubic centimeters 

 were given at 7.45, shortly before stopping- work for the da}^, but no 

 symptoms other than a slight drowsiness were noted. The stock solu- 

 tion was slightly moldy on June 5. On June 7 the rabbit's respiration 

 was rapid, and the animal was bright and vigorous. None of the com- 

 monl}^ described symptoms of loco weed poisoning were noted at any 

 stage of the experiment, but it is quite possible that had the feeding 

 of the extract been continued they would have developed. The experi- 

 ment simply indicates that the water extract of the leaves, as prepared 

 in the above way, is not an acute poison in the doses administered. 



The residues, after extracting the pods and the leaves respectively 

 with water on May 28, were soaked in 50 per cent alcohol until June 

 16, when they were filtered and given hypodermically to two rabbits. 

 One and a half cubic centimeters of the leaf extract, diluted so that it 

 contained but 33 per cent of alcohol, produced no noticeable effect 

 other than that produced by the alcohol itself. The same amount of 

 the 50 per cent alcoholic extract of the pods was likewise without 

 noticeable effect. " 



Experiment 2. — On June 13 more of the plant, with fully developed 

 green pods, was secured and, exclusive of the tough stems, was ground 

 up in a sausage machine and extracted for an hour at ordinarj^ tem- 

 peratures by grinding up small portions in a mortar with an equal 

 weight of water. All of the fractional parts were placed together 

 and the extract separated by means of a filter press. This was slightly 

 diluted, so that a cubic centimeter of the liquid was equivalent to a 

 gram of the fresh material. On June 14, 250 c. c. of this was fed at 

 8.30 a. m. to a sheep weighing about 60 pounds. No effect having been 

 noted, an equal amount was administered in the same way at 11 o'clock. 

 No toxic or even prominent physiological effect was noted the next 

 morning, when the animal grazed as usual. 



Experiment 3. — An acute case of loco disease was observed in a two- 

 year-old ewe with a lamb at her side. The band had been moved to a 

 new part of the range on the morning of May 22, and the ewe in 

 question was observed eating large quantities of the white loco weed 

 {Aragallns .picatvs). She was first seen eating this plant at 10 o'clock 

 a. m., and about 7.30 p. m., when the herder started the band for the 

 corral, she was unmanageable and the lamb was sick. An examination 

 of the ewe at this time showed that she was completely blind. A 

 slight locomotor ataxia was manifested. The ewe walked around in 

 long circles to the right, the neck being curved in that direction. 

 Whenever she came in contact with an}^ object, she pushed against it 

 until exhausted and then remained standing for an instant in a sort of 

 stupor. At the beginning of each attack the head was slightly elevated 



