POISONOUS PLANTS 189 



are all well known, and it will therefore suffice to name 

 those which are stated to have caused poisoning. They are — 

 Brassica alba {Sinapis alba Linn.), cultivated, or white, 

 mustard; Brassica Sinapis {Sinapis arvensis hiim.), charlock 

 or wild mustard ; Brassica nigra {Sinapis nigra Linn.), or 

 black mustard ; Cochlearia Armoracia, or horse-radish ; and 

 onion {Allium sativum). 



Wild radish {Raphanus Raphanistrum), according to 

 Cornevin, probably contains oils like mustard, whilst 

 Sisymbrium alliaria taints milk like onion. 



Symptoms. — In the horse black mustard produces bron- 

 chial symptoms, marked by difficulty in breathing and the 

 discharge of great quantities of yellowish frothy matter from 

 the nose, the post-mortem showing pulmonary congestion 

 and bronchi injected, dark red, and full of frothy yellow 

 liquid. 



Black mustard seeds* are sometimes found in cake, such 

 as that of rape seed, and J. Gerrard^ records the effects 

 of such a cake on cattle. The uneasiness, restlessness, 

 and intense colic, with frantic rushing about and mania, 

 ending in exhaustion, falling, struggles and collapse, were 

 prominent features, and Gerrard gave the case as a good 

 example of the action of a purely irritant poison. 



J. W. Anderton ^ similarly records a case in which cows 

 were made fatally ill after about 1 pound each of an oil- 

 cake, shown by Tuson to be composed chiefly of mustard 

 seed. Salivation, colic, respiratory distress, and accelerated 

 pulse were noticed. 



The more recent case recorded by P. J. Koub,^ in 

 which cattle ate mustard on pasture, appears very different, 

 for he noted dulness, coldness, some tympany, laboured 

 respiration, staggering, and falling. In fatal cases there 

 was immobility and a semi-comatose condition. 



Cozetta ^ records cattle poisoning by a colza cake of 

 Indian origin containing various species of mustard seed, 



* Whole seeds pass through unaltered in the faeces. They may be 

 eaten "by the pound without any effect. In cake, however, they may 

 be in the crushed condition. 



