80 THE WEEDS OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 



(2) Evidence that stock eat the weed and that it poisons them : 



Mr. P. R. Gordon, the late Chief Inspector of Stock, Queensland, reported 

 that the stomachs of cattle that had died contained Stramonium plant, and 

 analysis traced the poison to this plant. He adds: It may be remarked that 

 in each instance the poisoning was confined to quiet milking cattle, and it will 

 be found as a rule that mortality from poisonous plants is confined to quiet 

 milkers, or their progeny. These pet animals will nibble at and eat plants that 

 ordinary bush cattle will not touch, unless forced to do so from sheer 

 starvation. 



Mr. R. W. Peacock, late manager of Bathurst Experiment Farm, wrote : 

 Last year a couple of our sheep died suddenly, and upon post-mortem examina- 

 tion their paunches were found full of this plant, and the lining membrane in 

 a very inflamed condition. I haven't the slightest doubt but that death was 

 caused by it. 



(3) Evidence that stock will not eat the plant. My own cow (and her 

 successor) grazed in a paddock containing Thorn Apple plants. I eventually 

 eradicated them entirely, but I never saw a cow (nor a horse) touch one of 

 the plants, although I watched carefully for years. The old Benevolent 

 Asylum grounds at Sydney (now resumed for the railway station) always 

 liad Thorn Apple plants growing amongst the grass, and the Asylum cows 

 treated them with contempt. I watched those plants for years, and never 

 Tmew them to be touched. 



Many stock-owners have told me, during the last twenty years, that they 

 have never known stock to eat this plant. 



For twenty years I have systematically observed it near milking yards 

 and stables in hundreds of places in country districts. In cases where I 

 Tiave mentioned to the farmer or dairyman that the plant might be 

 poisonous, my remark has been invariably received with incredulity, as 

 indeed the very presence of the weed would indicate. 



V. K. Chesnut, an authority on the subject, in his " Thirty Poisonous 

 Plants of the United States " (Farmers' Bulletin, U.S. Dept. Agric... No. 86, 

 p. 30), says: " One or two instances are recorded [the italics are mine], in 

 -which cattle have been poisoned by eating the leaves of young plants which 

 -were present in grass hay." I look upon Prof. Chesnut's evidence as very 

 important. 



The evidence is more or less contradictory, but not irreconcilable. There 

 is no doubt that some cattle and sheep eat the plant, and that most cattle 

 refuse to touch it. The evidence that some cattle and sheep eat it without 

 injurious effects is perfectly cle&r. The probable explanation is that given 

 by Mr. van der Merwe, that animals eating it in small quantities to begin 

 with, gradually become immune to its poisonous effects. A rigid modern 

 series of experiments on the effects of this plant on stock is a desideratum, 

 and I hope it can be carried out, for we have already too many " open 

 verdicts " in regard to the deaths of stock. I think that my suggestion 

 as to the licking up of seeds from the ground should be followed up, as this 

 may be a clue to some reputed cases of poisoning. 



The question of prolonged use of small doses and consequent immunity 

 is so important as to require emphasis. I have known wharf labourers tc 

 chew such a quantity of tobacco as I think would either kill or seriously 

 affect the health of an ordinary man. 



