THE WHORLED MILKWEED AS A POISONOUS PLANT. 29 



affected are kidney, lungs, heart, tliyroid, thymus, and central ner- 

 vous system, while minor changes are found in the liver, alimentary 

 canal, and spleen. Thrombi occasionally occur in various organs. 



The lesions in the kidneys of the various animals differ some in 

 detail, but in all there is pronounced albuminous degeneration of the 

 epithelial cells lining the tubules, with marked swelling and disinte- 

 gration of the cytoplasm. In places the swollen cells nearly fill the 

 lumina of the tubules. Degenerative changes are most marked in the 

 cells of the convoluted tubules, but may be largely due to their great 

 bulk of cytoplasm. In certain instances the congestion is severe and 

 general, but in most cases it is confined to relatively small areas. 

 Greatly distencied capillaries and veins occur, accompanied with con- 

 siderable diapedesis and some edema. In such regions granules of 

 blood pigment are abmidant, showing that there has been a certain 

 degree of destruction of red blood corpuscles. In some cases, many 

 glomeruli are swollen, completely filling the capsule of Bowman, 

 while others are edematous. Hemorrhages have occurred in a few 

 glomeruli. 



LUNGS. 



Capillary congestion with diapedesis of erythrocytes and more or 

 less severe transudation of serum into the alveoli is a quite character- 

 istic condition in the lungs. In some cases there is a catarrhal condi- 

 tion of the bronchioles, with a marked exfoliation of the epithelium. 

 In a few cases thrombi are found in some of the smaller veins. 



A study has been made of the wall of the left ventricle of the heart 

 in the case of three sheep and one steer. The findings in these cases 

 agree very closely. In the case of two sheep there is a very marked 

 capillary congestion, with accompanying edema and some diapedesis 

 of red corpuscles. In both these cases there is a mild degree of cloudy 

 swelling, shown by the loss of cross striation and a somewhat granu- 

 lar cytoplasm. In the case of the steer and the other sheep the cloudy 

 swelling has gone much farther. The muscle cells are markedly 

 swollen and, ercept in certain restricted areas, the blood is squeezed 

 out of the capillaries. 



THYEOID. 



Samples of the thyroid gland were saved from 4 sheep, all of which 

 showed pronounced capillary congestion. 



THYMUS. 



The thymus glands of 4 sheep and the steer were studied. All 

 tissues of the glands of the sheep are very severely congested, the 



