LILY FAMILY. 51 



up by the animals, except when a recent rain has soft- 

 ened the ground. Horses and cattle are affected by the 

 poison as well as sheep, but they rarely eat enough to 

 produce serious results. Soon after flowering the plant 

 dries up and in this condition is unattractive to animals. 

 The seeds are extremely poisonous and sometimes pro- 

 duce trouble when the plant is mixed with hay. 



It has been established that the poisoning is due to 

 zygadenin, an alkaloid of which the leaves and bulb con- 

 tain about 0.6%, the root half as much and 

 Symptoms the flowers roug hly 1.25%. The proportions 

 may vary in different localities. The first symptoms 

 noticed in sheep are uneasiness and erratic movements 

 with laboured irregular breathing. Frothing at the 

 mouth, nausea and regurgitation follow, often accom- 

 panied by spasms. In the later stages, if sufficient of 

 the plant has been eaten, a complete collapse ensues, the 

 animal lying stretched out as if dead, its shallow breath- 

 ing scarcely perceptible. Experimental evidence indi- 

 cates that death is due to a stoppage of the heart's action. 

 Very little digestive trouble is found in adult sheep, but 

 lambs w r hich acquire the poison with their mothers' milk 

 are attacked with enteritis and dysentery, usually dying 

 in a few hours. 



Chesnut stated that both horses and cattle are some- 

 times killed. Pigs are said to eat the bulbs with 



Animals . ., . <TT _, 



\ffected impunity, and as a result the name Hog Po- 

 tato" has been popularly used for the plant. 

 Various remedies such as soda, salt, lard and fat pork, 



have been recommended and used by stockmen, but with 

 unsatisfactory results. A solution of perman- 

 ganate of potash and aluminium sulphate gives 



good results at all stages of the poisoning. It is a chemi- 



