592 



poisoning appeared profuse sweating, head hung low, forehead 

 against manger, hind legs wide apart, body unsteady, pupils dilated, 

 pulse soft and slow, temp. 101 Far., mucous lining of mouth, &c., 

 bloodshot and spotted. On the second day the breathing was tremo- 

 rous, the muscles relaxed, excepting those of the jaw, which were 

 spasmodically contracted. The nervous functions became more and 

 more disturbed, till on the third day of poisoning the mare became 

 unconscious and died. Four hours pass after eating the box plant 

 before the horse shows symptoms of poisoning, and he is doubled up 

 with severe pain in the abdomen before the brain becomes affected. 



Mr. Edwards rinds that dogs and carnivorous animals generally 

 are more sensitive than herbivora to the action of the box, as of 

 other vegetable poisons, and that they suffer more severely and 

 disproportionately in their nervous system. The horse is more sus- 

 ceptible than the sheep, sheep more than goats, and these more than 

 cattle. 



Post mortem examination shows engorgement of the blood- 

 vessels with dark blood, which coagulates only feebly, lungs en- 

 gorged, and cavities of heart full of blood. Besides a distended 

 condition of the blood-vessels of the abdominal organs generally, 

 with small petechial spots, the mucous lining of the stomach and 

 small intestines of the horse shows patches of inflammation. 



The results of treatment have been found satisfactory by Air. 

 Edwards, who also recommends, as a preventive of poisoning, that 

 stock should be travelled slowly through poison-infested country, 

 so that the animals will have time to discriminate in the selection 

 of their food as they go along. Hi 



