MUSTARD FAMILY. 



105 



owing to the broad wings which give them a total width 

 of about one-half inch. 



The flattened, dark brown seeds are about one-twelfth 

 of an inch in diameter, with five or six deep, loop-like 

 grooves arising from the notched place of attachment. 

 They are pungently bitter. 



WORMSEED MUSTARD EY?/.S/>/UOH cJieiranthoides L. 



This plant, like Wild Mustard, is harmful only when 

 its seeds are included in ground feeds. The seeds, which 



Fig. 25. Seeds of Wormseed Mustard Erysimmn chcirunthoidex. 

 Five times natural size. 



contain a pungent oil, are intensely bitter, and unless an 

 animal is very hungry, it will refuse feed containing any 

 appreciable amount of them. One sample of shorts sent 

 in for examination was accompanied by a statement that 

 two neighbours had bought feed from the same lot. 

 Each found all his pigs dead a few hours after the first 

 feeding. An analysis showed a considerable proportion 

 of Wormseed Mustard, there being 1.7 c /c by weight of 

 whole seeds present. This aroused suspicion, and feeding 

 experiments made since by Dr. Hadwen, though not com- 

 plete, have practically demonstrated the poisonous char- 

 acter of the seed. 



