18 



the two horses 30 and 45 minutes. Cicutoxin is evidently a poison 

 which is rapidly taken up by the system and which acts quickly. 



Symptoms. 



Usually the first symptom noticed was a twitching of the muscles; 

 and often a quivering of the lips and nose and a pronounced uneasi- 

 ness. This was soon followed by a series of spasms, during which there 

 was convulsive champing of the jaws and grating of the teeth and a 

 bending backward of the head and neck. In the tests the cattle and 

 sheep usually went down with the first severe spasm and never got up 

 again ; while the horses stayed on their feet during some of the spasms 

 and would get up again after going down. While down, there would be 

 a series of spasms at intervals of varying length. During these inter- 

 vals the animal would sometimes appear to be recovering. 



During the spasms there was always a very rapid kicking or 1 run- 

 ning movement of the legs, often rolling of the eyes, groaning, grating 

 of the teeth, and movements of the jaws. The head was often drawn 

 back, the legs stiffened ; and frothing at the mouth was often noticed. 

 Sometimes the animal would groan from pain while lying still. 



In the one sheep* that recovered there was almost constant dribbling 

 of the urine for about an hour after the spasms had ceased. Bloating 

 occurred in about half the sheep, some of them being severely bloated. 

 Before death there was a period of quiet, during which the animal 

 showed few signs of life except breathing. 



Treatment. 



The only treatment that has proven of any value in human beings 

 who have been poisoned by water hemlock is to produce vomiting before 

 a fatal dose has been absorbed. There is no known specific antidote. 

 To produce vomiting is usually impossible or impractical in either 

 cattle, horses, or sheep. The poison acts so quickly that there is little 

 time for any treatment, and after the symptoms appear the animal is 

 so excitable that any treatment would be difficult to apply. 



Method of Preventing or Reducing Losses. 



The water hemlock has such a limited distribution that can easily 

 be grubbed out from pastures where it is causing losses. The cost of 

 a poisoned steer would pay for grubbing several acres. In grubbing 

 it does not appear to be necessary to remove the entire root ; as experi- 

 ments seem to show that the plant dies if the rootstock, the heavy 

 tuberous underground base of the stem, is removed. It seems that if 

 the rootstock is even badly mutilated it will die and decay. 



After the plants have been grubbed they should not be left in the 

 field but should be removed to where stock cannot get at them, and 

 where they can later be burned. On the range they may be put in a 

 hole, a fire built over them and the hole afterwards refilled. Great 

 care must be taken not to leave any roots on the surface of the ground, 

 or the danger of poisoning will be increased. 



