SUPPLEMENTARY NOTE ON INTOXICATING GRASSES, 267. 
SUPPLEMENTARY NOTE ON INTOXICATING GRASSES. 
By H. F. Hance, Pu.D., etc. 
Soon after the publication of my article on Ne ik gt in last 
Pr 
ig s Journal of Botany, Prof. Pe selton Dyer was so kind as to write 
o me, fo eee a copy 0 re cones. ‘with peng temu- 
lent tu m, ” of Mr. . Wilson, ‘wiies most interesting investigations 
seem Jee ‘to ‘disprove the notion that Darnel has any noxious 
properties. In his note Prof. Dyer says: ‘‘ Last year Dr. Aitchison 
then were Bromus giganteus. Now, however, he has sent us a quan- 
tity of the hay, and it all turns out to be a plantidentical with one in , 
the herbarium from the same country, and named Stipa sibirica oy 
Munro. On looking at the specimens preserved of his former sen 
I find that ‘‘ Stipa sibirica” is amongst the Bromus, so I have no 
doubt that the Stzpa is the culprit. It does not quite agree with 
specimens of S/ipa sibirica,* nor with the descriptions of en 
tnebrians. I send you specimens of it. By the way, a grass 
your collection, gathered at ‘‘ Kalgan, ad magnum murum Sinensium,’ 
Sept., 1869, seems not to be Stipa sibirica, as it is labelled, but more 
e 8. parviflora, Desf.” The following is the extract from 
Aitchison’s letter, dated Gulmuz, Kashmir, 4 Aug., 1875:—‘“I rae 
just been collecting some good specimens of a grass that is extremely 
common near Gulmuz. It grows in large tussocks, and is very pore $ 
to horses and cattle. “The cattle are too knowin ng, and will not eat it. 
Horses from the plain do eat it and die from its effects, but if quickl 
treated recover. They become comatose, and lose the diag of their 
limbs. It grows in the Scinde valley also. Whilst there, I heard of 
it and the cure, viz., smoking them, by making a i arge fire and © 
keeping the horses head in the smoke. The nose commences run 
be and if it does so freely, ae beast is safe. The natives also say 
"7 
. 
symptoms, and both assert the utility of acidulous s a 
remedy in cases of poisoning. yer suggests that the Stipas 
may ‘be only mechanically poisonous, like Hordeum pratense ; 
a it i is indisputable that various s in Europe 
injury or Gone to cattle their irritant pro 
twamatesin mn of Przevalsky’ 8 seeds e Alashan poiso: oom 3 is 
* Which, according to Tsiniu ee poe: + eos oe 
(Spec. oe 60.) 
