192 BOVINE PATHOLOGY. 



smell of opium, and meconic acid and morphia may 

 be detected. The blood is dark, there are ecchy- 

 moses of serous membranes, and the contents of the 

 alimentary canal are hard and dry. With regard to 

 poisoning by the red poppy {Pap aver rhceas), Weiss (as 

 quoted by Gamgee) says : — ^^ Grimm observed that cattle 

 having eaten much of the red poppy had a weak, awkward 

 gait, uttered a groan at every step, were affected with 

 diarrhoea, and remained in a stupid sleepy condition. 

 Schmager and Lichte witnessed trembling, foaming at the 

 mouth, loss of consciousness and sensibility, rolling of 

 the eyes, loud bellowing, restlessness, amounting even to 

 raving, tympanitis, shivering and twitching movements of 

 the eyes, fixed and widely dilated pupil, agitated pulse ; the 

 secretion of milk is stopped. According to Gaullet, the 

 secretion of milk was watery, without fat or caseous 

 matter, and diminished in quantity, the pulse small 

 and quick, skin dry, staring coat, grinding of teeth ; 

 the animals flew as if rabid on the people that 

 approached them, and bit themselves in the legs. There 

 was constipation, the faeces dry and tinged with blood. 

 As the symptoms of raving and roaring subsided, the 

 animals became dull, stupid, and sleepy; sometimes they 

 lay down, at others they stood, but every now and then 

 the signs of furor supervened. In one, case the cattle got 

 loose, ran madly up the village, and struck their heads 

 against the walls and posts. The mad stage lasted for 

 about two hours ; the animals fell like dead, but awoke 

 again after several hours. The food taken by these animals 

 was examined by an apothecary, who found it to consist 

 of about three fourths of the corn poppy, ripe and unripe 

 seed capsules ; Adonis autumnalis (pheasant's eye) ; del- 

 phinium (larkspur), and the remaining fourth was clover.^' 



Camphor, alcohol, and ether are also narcotic poisons. 



Chloroform also may be detected by its odour. Its 

 preliminary stimulating effect is more powerful than that 

 of opium. 



Tobacco is also a narcotic, but inebriant rather than 

 soporific. It is not a frequent poison of cattle. 



