POISONS. 205 



maniacal in form. Not much can be done, but 

 a teaspoonful tannic acid dissolved in a cup of 

 water may be given with advantage in some cases. 



26. Potato Tops. 



The symptoms greatly resemble foot-and- 

 mouth disease, and the tannic acid drench should 

 be tried. 



27. Poison Oak. 



Botanical name Rhus diversiloba. 

 Common names Poison ivy; poison sumac. 



There are a number of varieties in this group, 

 and poisoning rarely occurs in sheep from any 

 of them. In case it does, drenches of raw linseed 

 oil in pint doses seem to do more good than any- 

 thing else yet tried. The course of the ailment is 

 a lingering one, sometimes lasting over a week. 



28. Kafir Corn and Sorghums. 



Losses sometimes occur in sheep in the autumn 

 from turning in fields from which kafir corn or 

 sorghum have been harvested. The young stub- 

 ble contains hydrocyanic (prussic) acid, or sub- 

 stances that may be changed into this acid when 

 ingested by herbivora. It is very deadly to cattle 

 and sheep. Hogs seem to be immune. 



The only beneficial treatment known is to give 

 a drench of the potassium permanganate and 

 aluminum sulphate, twenty-grain doses of each, 

 dissolved in a pint of water. However, as death 

 often occurs within a very few minutes after the 

 first symptoms of poisoning are shown, treat- 



