WESTERN SNEEZEWEED .AS A POISONOUS PLANT. 13 



toms, however, did not appear until September 15. At that time 

 it was still eating freely of the plant, but was gradually getting 

 weaker, would lie down much of the time, and, when walking, dragged 

 its hind legs. On the next day (September 16) the animal was not 

 only lying down much of the time, but, when attempting to walk, 

 acted as though the hind legs were stiff. On September 18 the weak- 

 ness had so much increased that when standing it trembled and 

 found great difficulty in keeping its feet. Plate I, figure 1, shows 

 the animal at 10.44 a. m. On the afternoon of September 18 it was 

 lying down with head stretched out, and when put on its feet was 

 unable to stand more than a minute or two at a time. On Sep- 

 tember 19 the pulse was weak and the animal was down and did not 

 attempt to rise. On the morning of this day it was given 3 ounces 

 of Epsom salt and a subcutaneous injection of one- tenth of a grain 

 of strychnin. The pulse was noted as irregular and the respirations 

 rapid. The pictures, Plate I, figures 2 and 3, were taken at 10.45 

 a. m. and 10.46 a. m., and show very clearly the extreme weakness 

 of the animal at this time. On September 20 it was given 1 ounce 

 of Epsom salt and a subcutaneous injection of one- tenth of a grain 

 of strychnin. The sheep was so weak that it was unable to raise 

 the hinder part of the body from the ground. On this day the 

 animal was regurgitating; some green mucus ran from its mouth 

 and nostrils, but it did not vomit. On September 21 it appeared 

 somewhat better, perhaps as the result of the action of the Epsom 

 salt, and on this day it was given two doses of one-tenth of a grain 

 of strychnin. The sheep was given alfalfa hay and bran and this 

 feeding of hay was continued on the succeeding days. On Septem- 

 ber 24 the animal received 2 ounces of Epsom salt, and on September 

 25 appeared very much stronger. From this time there was a con- 

 tinual gain in the sheep's condition, and on September 28 it was 

 turned out into the pasture. On September 30, the last day of 

 observation, the animal weighed 103 pounds. It was evident, how- 

 ever, that recovery at this time was only partial, for the animal's 

 general condition was rather bad. 



Typical Case of Sheep 380. 



Sheep 380 may be taken as a type of those animals subjected to pro- 

 longed feeding which, in addition to weakness, showed a pronounced 

 tendency to vomit. The animal, a ewe weighing 60 pounds, was 

 brought to the station May 28, 1916. The feeding was commenced 

 on May 30 and was continued until July 21, 53 days. During 

 that time the animal ate 113.82 pounds of H. hoopesii. Symptoms 

 of poisoning, however, appeared in 25 days from the commencement 

 of the feeding, at which time the animal had eaten 64.583 pounds. 



