4 BULLETIN 710, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



poisoned. As a matter of fact, cattle run wild throughout the region, 

 but horses are never turned loose and perhaps would not have an 

 opportunity for getting hold of the plant. Pigs also run about wild» 

 but are never known to be poisoned. 



All the cases of i^oisoning occur early in the spring, doubtless 

 owing to the fact that at that time the Chrosperma is the only green 

 plant and consequent!}' is attractive to a grazing animal. Just how 

 extensive the losses were it was impossible to find out, but it ap- 

 peared that some occurred every year and that the plant was recog- 

 nized b}' the people of the neighborhood as particularly destructive 

 to cattle. The subject was deemed of sufficient importance to demand 

 a careful investigation, inasmuch as the plant grows somewhat widely 

 and maj' be the cause of losses not only in North Carolina but in 

 other States. Queries in regard to the poisonous properties of 

 Chrosperma have come from other localities, but the only definite 

 reports of losses of live stock have been from North Carolina. 



HISTORICAL SUMMARY. 



The original description of the plant under the name Mela/iithiuTn 

 musccetoxicu7n was by Walter,^ in the Flora Caroliniana, in 1788. 

 The plant has received a large number of names, the discussion of 

 which belongs to the systematic botanist. B}'- many botanists it is 

 placed in the genus Amianth'mm. The name used in this paper is 

 the one recognized by Britton and Brown in " Illustrated Flora of 

 Northeastern North America." 



Apparently very little has been published concerning the poisonous 

 properties of this plant. 



Elliott, 181T, saj^s : 



This plant is a narcotic poison, and is employed in some families for destroy- 

 ing the housefly. The bulbs are triturated and mixed with molasses or honey 

 and the preparation is spread upon plates and placed in parts of the house 

 most effected. The flies are soon attracted, and the poison takes effect while 

 they are sipping it. They are perceived to stand unsteadily, totter, and fall 

 supine. The flies, iinless swept into a fire or otherwise destroyed, revive in 

 the course of 24 hours. 



This appears to be the earliest mention of the poisonous properties 

 of the plant, although it is to be presumed from the specific name 

 given that Walter knew of this use of the plant. 



Mohr, 1890, states that the root is poisonous. 



Chesnut, 1898, says that it " is sometimes eaten by cattle with 

 fatal results. The hulls, when mashed up with molasses, are used 

 to stupefy flies." 



In the National Standard Dispensatory, second edition, 1909, 

 page 914, is the statement that it " is the fly, crow, or fall poison of 

 the United States Atlantic coast region. It is used as an insecticide, 

 and is poisonous to birds." 



lA list of literature fitfd apiicars at the end of this jjaper. 



