38 BULLETIISr 405, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTUEE. 



toxin, it seems possible that it would not be produced in America, 

 at least under range conditions. 



The fact that there is so Httle evidence that domestic animals in 

 Europe suffer from the alkaloids of lupine may be explained by the 

 different way in which the animals are handled. It is shown else- 

 where in this paper that lupine poisoning of sheep on the western 

 ranges is ordinarily associated with deficiency in the food supply. 

 Rarely, if ever, are well-fed sheep poisoned. It may be assumed 

 that the sheep in Germany that feed upon the lupine are staU-fed or 

 pasture-fed and eat somewhat at leisure, so that seldom would they 

 be hkely to reach the toxic limit in a single feeding. In this connec- 

 tion, however, it may be noted that some of the symptoms men- 

 tioned by the German authors resemble those of alkaloidal poisoning, 

 and, granted that ictrogen is the principal cause of the losses, it is 

 possible that there is a certain amount of alkaloidal poisoning in 

 addition. This would account for the nervous symptoms described 

 by the German authors, for these correspond to the phenomena 

 exhibited by western sheep suffering from the lupine alkaloids. 



It should be noted in this connection that the work of Dr. Knowles 

 mentioned on page 35 seems to show that under some conditions 

 ictrogenic poisoning of horses may occur in America. 



The exact relationship between poisoning by lupine alkaloids and 

 ictrogenic poisoning is far from clear, and it is to be expected that the 

 chemical investigations which are now being carried on by the United 

 States Department of Agriculture wiU aid in clearing up this subject. 



REMEDIES. 



It was hoped that some remedy might be found by which recovery 

 from lupine poisoning might be aided, but the results of the experi- 

 mental work in this direction were disappointing. Whisky, gin, and 

 atropin were tried, with no beneficial results. Caffein and Epsom 

 salts were used to increase excretion, but without any advantage. 

 Tannic acid and sodiiun bicarbonate were used as antidotes. In the. 

 pubhcation on Zygadenus,^ there is a discussion of reasons why the 

 use of antidotes in a drench in any ordinary method of administra- 

 tion should not be expected to be beneficial. As in the work on 

 Zygadenus, experiments were made of giving sodium bicarbonate in 

 frequently repeated doses. This was tried in four cases (sheep Nos. 

 297, 254, 296, and 269). Sheep No. 269 received 0.772 pound of 

 seed and died in spite of the remedy, but sheep No. 296 received 

 0.666 pound, considerably more than the toxic dose, and was not 

 sick. This animal received the sodiimi bicarbonate every half hour, 

 while sheep No. 269 received it at hour intervals. There seems to be 

 httle doubt, as in Zygadenus poisoning, that if the sodium bicarbonate 



1 U. S. Dept. of Agr. Bui. No. 125, p. 41. 



