392 



SCIENCE. 



IS. S. Vol. XVII. No. 427. 



the subversion of the intentions of Stewart, 

 Tilden, Fayerweather and others would thus 

 be rendered impossible. — Editor.] 



SHORTER ARTICLES. 

 SLEEPY GRASS AND ITS EFFECT ON HORSES. 



In the Pecos Valley of New Mexico a year 

 ago, a ranchman told me of a strange kind 

 of grass found in the Sacramento Mountains 

 west of there which, from its peculiar effect 

 on horses, is called ' sleepy grass.' He de- 

 scribed it as diifering from the locoes in 

 merely putting horses into a deep sleep with- 

 out other symptoms of poison. 



The story had a far-away sound and made 

 little impression at the time, but last Sep- 

 tember, as I was traveling along the crest of 

 the Sacramento Mountains, it came back to 

 me with a new interest. 



We had made camp one evening in a beauti- 

 ful park, bordered with spruces and firs, and 

 covered with tall grass that, with its green 

 base leaves and ripe heads loaded with heavy 

 rye-like grain, offered a tempting feast to our 

 hungry animals. The moment saddles and 

 harness were off, the horses were eagerly feed- 

 ing. A few minutes later a passing ranch- 

 man stopped his team and called over to us, 

 ' Look out there ! Tour horses are getting 

 sleepy grass,' and added, 'If they get a good 

 feed of that grass you will not get out of here 

 for a week.' We were not prepared to spend 

 a week in that locality, but I was anxious to 

 test the grass, so let the horses feed for a half 

 hour, then brought them up for their oats 

 and picketed them on some short grass on a 

 side hill well out of reach of the sleepy grass. 



The following morning just after sunrise 

 the cook called my attention to the attitude 

 of one of the team horses, saying there was 

 ' sure something the matter with old Joe.' 

 The horse was standing on the side hill, asleep, 

 his feet braced wide apart, head high in air, 

 both ears and under lip dropped, a most 

 ridiculous picture of profound slumber. The 

 other horses apparently had not eaten as much 

 of the grass as old Joe, for they were merely 

 dozing in the morning sun and showed signs 

 of life in an occasional shake of the head or 

 switch of the tail. At breakfast time the 



others woke up to a keen interest in their - 

 oats, but old Joe, after being dragged to camp 

 much against his will, preferred to sleep 

 rather than eat, and after pulling back on 

 his rope all the way down to the spring, re- 

 fused to drink or even lower his head to 

 water. My little saddle mare showed the 

 least signs of the general stupor, so dropping 

 behind with her, I woke the others up pretty 

 thoroughly and brought them into camp on a 

 lope. Later, when in the harness, the team 

 traveled along steadily with some urging, but 

 when we reached Cloudcroft and left the 

 horses in front of the store while getting sup- 

 plies, their heads dropped, and for an hour 

 they slept soundly. Even my nervy little 

 mare did not move from her tracks, but stood 

 with drooping ears, paying no attention to 

 the unusual surroundings and stir of a town. 

 On starting again the saddle horses responded 

 to the spurs with worried switches of the tail 

 quite different from their usual manner, while 

 the team paid no greater attention to the 

 whip. For the rest of the day our progress 

 was slow, notwithstanding which, the driver 

 called my attention to the fact that the team, 

 and especially old Joe, were sweating pro- 

 fusely. Our saddle horses would sigh with 

 relief when allowed to stop for a moment, 

 and we had many a good laugh at the flap- 

 ping ears of my companion's horse — a large- 

 eared, raw-boned cayuse which seemed to have 

 lost all control of her usually erect ears. 



That night we camped in another park- 

 like valley where sleepy grass was abundant, 

 but took care to picket the horses out of 

 reach of it. They were hungry and all began 

 to feed eagerly, but old Joe soon stopped, 

 braced his feet and relaxed into forgetful 

 slumber. The next morning when we went 

 to bring them in for their grain all were fast 

 asleep. 



The stupor lasted about three days, and was 

 too evident and unusual to be attributed to 

 weariness or natural indisposition. We were 

 making easy trips and the horses were in 

 good condition. After it wore off they 

 showed their usual spirit and energy, as well 

 as appetite. The only after-effect was a gaunt 

 appearance, apparently resulting from lack of 



