DISEASES OF SHEEP 621 



has been repeatedly sent to the writer with statements concerning its 

 alleged poisonous nature. It has been supposed by some that the 

 seeds or the roots were poisonous; but since the seed capsules are 

 formed under ground and the plant grows in such dry situations 

 that it is practically impossible to pull up the roots, it is difficult to 

 see how stock could ever feed upon these portions of the plant. No 

 evidence whatever has been obtained which could connect this plant 

 with any case of poisoning. The cow parsnip (Heracleum lanatum) 

 is occasionally called wild parsnip and consequently considered 

 poisonous. The plant is much coarser than the water hemlock and 

 is known to be harmless. The false mallow (Malvastrum coccineum) 

 is well known for its showy, brick-red flowers, which blossom in May 

 and June. This plant has been accused of being poisonous, but it 

 was found during the season of 1900 that it is extensively eaten by 

 sheep on certain ranges and was well known to be a valuable forage 

 crop by Mr. W. C. Gillette, on whose range it had been eaten by sheep 

 for a number of years. 



Helenium Autumnale. False sunflower, sneezewort, sneeze- 

 weed, swamp sunflower, yellow star, ox eye. Ord Compositse. An 

 indigenous herb, with large golden yellow compound flowers which 

 appear in August. All its parts are bitter and somewhat acrid, and 

 when snuffed up the nostrils in powder are powerful sternutatories. 

 Nine different varieties of Helenium have been described, but H. 

 autumnale, H. parviflorum and H. tenuifolium are the best known ; 

 the last two for their peculiar deleterious effects on the nervous sys- 

 tem of the lower animals especially. Dunglison's Medical Dic- 

 tionary. 



The H. autumnale injures and kills some of our domestic ani- 

 mals. It is distributed in damp lands from near the great northern 

 lakes to the vicinity of the Gulf of Mexico, and commences blooming 

 late in August and continues till frost. The other species bloom 

 earlier, the entire blooms being bright yellow, while the central por- 

 tion of this is purplish. While the others are annuals, this is peren- 

 nial ; the root and lower part of the stems survive through the win- 

 ter. The stems do not branch so near the ground as the others, and 

 the plant is acrid, pungent. In common with the other species, it 

 is also bitter. But the degree of bitterness and acridness is very 

 variable. Within an area of a few square yards plants may be found 

 with these properties very strong, and others in which the bitter is 

 weak and the acridness scarcely perceptible. 



In the sheep the spasms in severe cases are epilepti-form and 

 a sheep may have many such convulsions and yet recover without 

 treatment and after many hours rise up and walk. 



The horse and mule succumb to the baleful effects of the poison 

 quicker and more completely than other animals. The effect is 

 manifested very soon after ingestion and with great violence. The 

 animal cannot control his motions, plunges about blindly, falls dead 

 or perhaps breaks his *aeck in falling forward with the head under 

 the body. 



