POISONS AND POISONING. 67 



if a hypodermic injection is given immediately of pliysostigmin 

 salicylate 1 grain, pilocarpin hydrochlorid 2 grains, strychnin sul- 

 phate ^ grain. 



LOCO. 



The loco plants have caused especially heavy losses of cattle, horses, 

 and sheep. They grow in the semiarid regions of the West and some- 

 times in great luxuriance. The best known are the " woolly loco " 

 or "purple loco" and the "white loco" or "rattle weed." The 

 purple loco, Astragalus mollissimus^ is common in Texas and the 

 adjoining States and extends north as far as Nebraska and Colorado. 

 It is especially destructive to horses. The white loco, Oxytropis lam- 

 Ijerti^ is still more widely distributed, being found in the plains 

 region from Alaska to Mexico and west of the Eocky Mountains to 

 central Utah. The white loco is much more important than the 

 purple loco, for it affects not only horses but cattle and sheep. These 

 plants belong to the pea family, and there are a number of other 

 species of this family in Arizona, New Mexico, and California that 

 are loco plants and produce the same symptoms. Just how many of 

 these loco plants there are is not known, as definite experimental work 

 has been carried on only in the cases of the white loco and the purple 

 loco. 



Syrrbftorris. — Loco poisoning is a chronic condition and symptoms 

 are shown only after somewhat prolonged feeding. The condition 

 is one of cumulative poisoning, and animals sometimes decline very 

 rapidly after the first symptoms appear. In many cases animals 

 acquire a habit of eating loco and prefer it to any other feed. The 

 poison affects the central nervous system. There is a lack of mus- 

 cular coordination and the animal performs very erratic movements. 

 In the later stages the animal becomes emaciated and eventually dies 

 of starvation. 



Treatment. — Locoed animals are badly constipated, and it is im- 

 portant that this condition should be remedied at the start. Any 

 purgative can be used, but Epsom salt has been found especially 

 effective. If locoed animals can be turned into a field of alfalfa, a 

 large proportion of them will recover with no further treatment. 

 Recovery may be aided by giving cattle, hypodermically, daily doses 

 of three-twentieths to four-twentieths grain of strychnin. By this 

 treatment cattle can be cured and put in condition for market. 



ERGOTISM. 



The poisonous effects of ergot (Pis. V, VI) appear chiefly in the 

 winter and spring of the year and among cattle. It is developed 

 among grasses grown on rich soil in hot, damp seasons. Rye seems 

 more liable to ergot than any of our other crops. Of the grasses 



