NARCOTIC POISONS 



59 



natives, among whom it has produced from time to time considerable 

 mortality; but when thoroughly cooked it is consumed in moderation 

 without producing any deleterious effects. 



It does not appear to have been known in this country until the year 

 1889, but is now generally recognized by veterinary surgeons as a highly 

 dangerous grain to form any part of 

 a horse's diet. In shape it somewhat 

 resembles a tooth without the fang, 

 having two flat sides and a serrated 

 edge, hence the name "dog-tooth" pea. 

 Very serious losses among large studs 

 of horses have occurred in Glasgow, 

 Liverpool, Bristol, and other places as 

 a result of mixing this Indian vetch 

 with oats and other horse food. 



Symptoms. The injurious effects 

 of this grain are not immediately ap- 

 parent, and this has frequently led to 

 the real cause of the malady being 

 overlooked. In the case of the Bristol 

 tramway horses the drivers were at 

 first blamed for the number of horses 

 that fell and broke their knees, the 

 real cause being vertigo produced by 

 the food. Where the poisonous grain 

 had long been in use, some of the 

 animals fell in their stalls, but, as a 

 rule, they appeared to be well until 

 taken out, when they were seized with 

 paroxysms of difficult breathing and 

 threatening suffocation, roaring, stag- 

 gering and falling, some few dying 



on the spot, while others became paralytic and the subjects of chronic 

 roaring. The effects in some instances were not observed until eight weeks 

 after the food was discontinued. 



Treatment. The cause being discovered will of course suggest a dis- 

 continuance of the grain, but no antidote or even palliative has been so 

 far discovered. Many of the horses referred to above were only saved 

 from immediate suffocation by opening the windpipe and inserting a 

 tracheotomy tube. 



Laxative food and medicine to clear the bowels, and rest in a loose-box, 



Fig. 456. Indian Pea (Lathyrus sativus) 



