194 SHEEP DISEASES. 



spur, and the chances are that owing to its pungent 

 taste aconite does very little actual damage. Sev- 

 eral species of aconite occur in the United States, 

 the commonest being the Aconitum Columbianum; 

 it grows in very high altitudes, up to ten thousand 

 feet, and occasionally a band of sheep, very hun- 

 gry for green stuff, may eat enough to cause seri- 

 ous results. 



Symptoms: Muscular weakness, with labored 

 breathing, and a very weak, wiry pulse. Bloating, 

 frothing at the mouth, and, as death draws near, 

 the eye is greatly dilated. 



Treatment: One dram (sixty grains) tannic 

 acid dissolved in an ounce of glycerin and a pint 

 of water is the chemical antidote; atropin given 

 hypodermically in one-tenth grain dosage is the 

 physiological antidote. 



6. Water Hemlock. 



Botanical name Cicuta occidentalis. 



Common names Cowbane; sometimes called 

 wild parsnip, but differing greatly from the real 

 wild parsnip. 



It grows from three to six feet high. Its stem 

 is hollow, green and smooth. The roots are 

 bunched together, and are spindle-shaped, with 

 cross partitions in them. The real wild parsnip 

 has only one thick, fleshy root, which is an easy 

 way to tell the two apart. 



The flowers are a dull greenish-white. The 

 plant grows along banks of rivers and marshes, 

 and is pretty well distributed over the West. 



