SUSPECTED SPECIES. 125 



of no value, except for feeding. As soon as it was found that they 

 were poisonous in an uncooked condition, the owner of the pigs 

 cooked some more potatoes in the same condition and fed them to other 

 pigs without causing any poisoning. The symptoms of poisoning by 

 this plant were a slowly progressing paralysis, which became complete 

 after about twenty-four hours, an increased salivation, and a regurgi- 

 tation of the stomach contents. 



SPEEADING NIGHTSHADE. 



{Solcmum triflorum Nutt.) 



A smooth prostrate annual with rough, widely branching stems, 7 

 to 9 lobed leaves, numerous clusters of small white flowers in groups 

 of three, and green berries a half inch in diameter. The appearance 

 of the fruit has given the names wild potato and wild tomato to this 

 plant. It grows in Madison, Gallatin, Park, and Cascade counties, as 

 well as in other isolated localities, on cultivated ground and around 

 prairie dog towns. 



The spreading nightshade is native to the Great Plains, and is a com- 

 mon garden weed from Arizona to Texas, and through Montana to 

 British America. A single complaint of the poisoning of cattle by the 

 fruit was sent to this Department from Nebraska, and rabbits inocu- 

 lated with the juice of the berries sent from that State were badly 

 poisoned. Berries sent to us at Washington by Mr. W. W. Jones, of 

 Bozeman, proved to be equally bitter, even after preserving in the 

 form of a jam. No experiments were made with the berries or with 

 extracts upon animals. In Montana, it is asserted, the fruit under the 

 name of ground cherries is pickled with vinegar, and eaten either in 

 that state or while still raw. 



PLANTS SUSPECTED OF BEING POISONOUS. 



PRAIKIE FENNELS. 



{Lomatium and Mitsineon spp.) 



Several species of Lomatium and one of Musineon grow quite abun- 

 dantly on the dry open ranges, and some of these have, perhaps on 

 account of their ill odor, been suspected by stockmen of poisoning 

 sheep in the early spring. These plants are among the first to appear 

 in the spring, and this circumstance, together with the umbels of yel- 

 low or white flowers and the general resemblance to other members of 

 the parsley family, should serve to identify them in connection with 

 the illustrations. We were unable to obtain any evidences in the field 

 which would tend to establish the poisonous character of these plants. 

 The only native species in these two genera which has thus far been 

 proved to be poisonous to stock is L. nudicaule (Pursh) Coult. & Rose, 



