CICUTA, OR WATER HEMLOCK. 13 



It should be noted that the feeding was rather desultory in character and was ex- 

 tended over such a long time that it could not be considered as a conclusive experiment 

 as to the tops, although the impression among the observers was that the tops were not 

 injurious. 



Case No. 102. 



Case No. 102 was brought in for feeding with Cicuta on September 14. At 8 p. m., 

 September 15, this wether weighed 93 pounds. At 2.05 p. m., it was fed 1 pound and 9 

 ounces of ground Cicuta roots. On the morning of September 16 it was given a little 

 hay, mixed with the Cicuta which remained from the feeding of the preceding day. 

 At 5.50 a. m. it was given 1 pound and 10 ounces of ground Cicuta roots and at 9 p. m. 

 was found dead in the corral. It had eaten, all told, in the two days 2 pounds and 8 

 ounces, or on the basis of 100 pounds of weight 2 j^ pounds. 



This sheep was autopsied on the mormng of September 17. It was bloated; there 

 was opisthotonos; it had frothed at the mouth and had evidently kicked about in the 

 corral. It was lying on the left side. The surface of the heart was congested. The 

 left ventricle was contracted and the right ventricle dilated. The lungs were strongly 

 congested, and the inner walls of the trachea and the bronchi inflamed. The walls 

 of the lower part of the ileum and cecum were inflamed . The brain and the membranes 

 of the spinal cord were congested. A piece of the kidney was preserved and sectioned. 

 It showed strong congestion. In the medullary portion the walls of the tubules were 

 in good condition, and the blood was confined to the vessels and was not broken down. 

 In the cortical portion the walls of the tubules were degenerated to some extent. The 

 blood was very abundant and was all through the tissue, not being confined to the 

 vessels. In the cortex a large part of the red corpuscles were "ghosts," the pigment 

 having been broken down and appearing outside the corpuscles in the form of gi'anules. 

 The blood vessels of the tissue of the kidney contained some very large bacteria, 

 probably putrefactive organisms. The conclusion is that this condition of the cortex 

 is due to a combination of an acute nephritis and post-mortem decomposition. A piece 

 of liver was also embedded and sectioned. The liver contained a great deal of blood, 

 most of which was hemolyzed and broken down. The liver cells seemed to be normal. 

 Large numbers of bacteria similar to those found in the kidney were present in the 

 liver. 



feeding cicuta to cattle in 1910. 



Case No. 119. 



Case No. 119, a heifer weighing 300 pounds, was brought in September 13 for feeding 

 with Cicuta. The animal at that time was in good condition. Feeding was com- 

 menced at 8.30 a. m. on September 14, when she was given three roots, to see whether 

 she would eat the plant. At 9.10 a. m. she was fed 1 pound and 5 ounces of the whole 

 roots. At 10.20 a. m. she was found on the ground in a fit. The animal got up, 

 but soon went down again in a violent spasm. She kicked, straightening her legs 

 rapidly, extended her head, and frothed at the mouth, emitting an occasional bellow. 

 She staggered about the corral in a dazed way and went down, kicking violently. 

 An attempt was made to give her a drench of magnesium sulphate and tannin, but 

 her struggles were so violent that it was impossible. A series of photographs taken 

 between 10.27 and 11 show the condition and attitudes assumed. (PI. IV.) At 

 10.35 she was given three grains of morphin hypodermically. . At 10.45 the struggles 

 were somewhat less violent, perhaps because of exhaustion, and at 10.50 she died. 



An autopsy was made immediately. The skin was very much congested, the teats 

 being violet purple in color. The surface of the heart was congested, the left ventricle 

 contracted, and the right expanded, with slight congestion on the inner wall. The 

 lungs and inner walls of the trachea and bronchi were congested. The walls of the 

 anus were inflamed, the kidneys were congested, the brain slightly congested, and 

 the membranes of the spinal cord somewhat edhgested. The omentum had spots of 



