LOCO WEED 



3480 



LOCO WEED 



ally in men between the ages of thirty and 

 fifty ; the cause is not definitely known, but the 

 most frequent provocative disease is syphilis. 

 Many authorities believe this to be the sole 

 cause. The malady may be from six to twenty 

 years in developing. 



The characteristic walk, in which the legs 

 appear to be independent of their owner's will, 

 the occurrence of a feeling of constriction about 

 the waist (girdle sensation), and the gradual 

 failure of sight may all be symptomatic of this 

 disease; severe pains in the abdomen, occurring 

 at irregular intervals and independent of any 

 known cause, and called "gastric crises," may 

 be present. Finally, if the suspect complains 

 of "walking on cotton," a peculiar feeling in the 

 soles of the feet, it may be accepted as evi- 

 dence of locomotor ataxia. 



No case has been known to recover, but 

 treatment from the hands of a nerve specialist 

 may arrest the disease. The patient may live 

 for many years. It is highly important that the 

 muscles be retrained and controlled when the 

 patient is learning to walk again, and systematic 

 exercises carried out under the instruction of a 

 reliable physician have often accomplished very 

 satisfactory results. W.A.E. 



Consult Osier's Practice of Medicine. 



LOCO, lo'ko, WEED, a weed of the pea 

 family, widely distributed over the grazing re- 

 gions of the Rocky Mountains district, and 

 greatly dreaded by Western stockmen because 

 of its harmful effect on horses, cattle and sheep. 

 Loco is the Spanish word for 

 crazy, and was applied to the 

 plant because of the peculiar 

 actions of an animal suffering 

 from an acute form of 

 loco disease. 



erly the action of the muscles. In going across 

 a rut in a road a diseased horse may leap as if 

 jumping over a ditch, or it may lift its feet very 

 high in stepping over a low obstruction. A 

 horse suffering from an acute form of the dis- 

 ease does not notice an approaching person un- 

 til the latter is within a few feet, and it may 

 then suddenly rear and fall over backwards. 

 It is exceedingly dangerous to drive a badly 

 locoed horse, because of its tendency to shy 

 violently at imaginary objects. In the last 

 stages of the disease the animal ceases to eat, 

 and dies finally of exhaustion and starvation. 



Locoed cattle also show a lack of muscular 

 coordination. Sometimes a diseased steer will 



LOCO WEED 

 (a) White; (&) purple. 



Symptoms of the Disease. Locoed horses 

 show irregularities of gait, such as dragging the 

 feet, and are unable to control and direct prop- 



DISTRIBUTION OF LOCO WEED 

 (a) Purple; (&) white. 



rush about in a frantic manner and run wildly 

 into obstructions, but usually these animals are 

 dull and stupid. Violent shaking of the head, 

 loss of flesh, staring eyes and rough coats are 

 accompaniments of the disease, and in the end 

 the animals die of starvation. Locoed sheep 

 suffer from great weakness, as they often stum- 

 ble and fall and can get up again only with dif- 

 ficulty. In general their symptoms are less 

 marked than those of cattle and horses. 



Though the United States Department of 

 Agriculture has been investigating the subject 

 since 1873, no specific medical cure for the loco- 

 weed disease has as yet been found. Sugges- 

 tions for treatment, however, are given in 

 Farmers' Bulletin Number 380, issued by the 

 Agricultural Department, Washington, D. C. 

 This pamphlet may be secured by applying to 

 that department. 



Varieties of the Weed. The loco disease is 

 caused by the purple and white varieties of the 

 loco weed. The former is the more poisonous, 

 but is eaten only by horses; the latter is liked 

 by horses, cattle and sheep, and poisons all of 

 them. The purple variety is a perennial found 



