22 BULLETIN 69, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Rafinesque, 1828, page 109, says that "even cattle do not appear 

 injured by them [the stems and leaves] when mixed with hay." 



Schiinemann, 1891, says ''die ganze Pflanze ist sehr giftig." 



Ki'ause, 1837, gives the details of the supposed poisoning of horses 

 by Cicuta in hay. He fed the stems and leaves experimentally to 

 three horses. All became sick and two died. 



Hedrick, 1897, says "it is probable that the poisonous constituent 

 is found only in the underground stem and the roots." 



Ladd, 1899, states that the roots and seeds are especially poisonous 

 and that the tops are poisonous in hay. 



Brodie, 1901, experimenting with Cicuta vagans, fed all parts of 

 the plant in May, July, and August without results, but killed an 

 animal in November after the stems and leaves were dead, 



Chesnut and Wilcox, 1901, page 82, speaking of Cicuta occidentalis 

 say: 



Field observations indicate that leaves and stems, including the basal portion of 

 this plant, at least during the early stages of growth, contained sufficient poison to 

 produce death. The roots contain a virulent poison. 



Blankinship, 1903, page 89, states that the roots and fohage are 

 riiore poisonous in early spring and that cases are reported of poison- 

 ing from eating "slough hay." It is to be presumed that these latter 

 cases were poisoned by thei tops. 



It appears, therefore, that the preponderance of opinion, we can 

 hardly say evidence, is in favor of the whole plant being poisonous. 

 This subject is discussed in the experimental part of this paper 

 (pp. 15-17). 



The feeding experiments at Mount Carbon show that there is little 

 danger, if any, from the aerial parts of the plant. In 1911, Cicuta 

 tops, from the time they were 8 inches to a foot in height until matur- 

 ity, were fed to sheep with no iU effects. The quantity fed was many 

 times that which would be taken in grazing. It is possible that just 

 as the plants are starting to grow the shoots may be harmful, but it 

 seems more probable that at times the animals poisoned get some of 

 the rootstock. In the experimental work with seeds the animals were 

 drenched with 1.6 to 3.8 pounds of seed to 100 pounds of their weight 

 and only one animal showed symptoms of poisoning. This quantity 

 of seed is evidently vastly more than a sheep could obtain in hay. 



It seems clear, then, that hay containing Cicuta tops and seeds is 

 harmless, and that practically the only danger from the plant is from 

 ingestion of the roots. 



SEASON WHEN CICUTA IS MOST POISONOUS. 



It is generally stated that the plant is most poisonous in the spring. 

 Some authors say that as the stored material of the rootstock is 

 used up in the growth of the plant, it ceases to be poisonous. Cer- 

 tainly most cases of poisoning occur in the spring. 



