g(5 DISEASES OE CATTLE. 



siderable quantity has been eaten. It seems to exert its influence on 

 the nervous system. The gait is slow and measured, the step high, 

 the eyes glassy and staring, the vision defective. Sudden excitement 

 will frequently produce convulsions, which, if the disease is well 

 advanced, have a temporarily prostrating effect upon the animal. 

 Although loco poisoning is a nervous affection, emaciation is one of 

 the most noticeable symptoms. The taste for the weed becomes 

 stronger, the victim preferring it to other food. When it is taken in 

 large quantities delirium is produced and the animal becomes vicious. 

 If the cause be removed before too much injury is done, recovery is 

 likely to take place. 



Treatment. — Medicinal treatment seems to be of little avail. Com- 

 fortable stabling, quiet, and a liberal supply of wholesome food tend to 

 counteract the poisonous effect of the plant and build up the depleted 

 forces. 



Laurel poisoning. — The mountain laurel, the rhododendron, and 

 the bay tree are poisonous for cattle. The foliage of these plants is 

 most likely to be eaten in the late winter or spring, when there is 

 little forage available. The effect is to cause great mental excite- 

 ment, salivation, retching, colic, diarrhea, nerve exhaustion, and 

 paralysis. 



Treatment. — The treatment consists in administering protectives to 

 soothe the gastro-intestinal mucous membrane, and stimulants to keep 

 up the action of the heart and general strength. For this purpose 

 one may use coffee, whisky, or ammonia. 



Other poisonous plants. — Other poisonous plants are the box, 

 water hemlock, equisetum, lupine (under special conditions), tobacco, 

 green acorns (when eaten in excessive quantities by horses or cattle), 

 green sorghum and Kafir corn forage (when stunted or frosted), lily 

 of the valley, aconite, oleander, jimson weed, green potatoes and 

 potato sprouts, and poison rye grass (Lolium temulentwm). 



Ergotism. — The poisonous effects of ergot (Pis. V, VI) appear 

 chiefly in the winter and spring of the year and among cattle. It is 

 developed among grasses grown on rich soil in hot, damp seasons. 

 Rye seems more liable to ergot than any of our other crops. Of the 

 grasses which enter into the composition of hay, bluegrass is the 

 most likely to become affected. Ergot may also affect redtop, oats, 

 grasses, and grains. On the plant the fungus manifests itself on 

 the seeds, where it is easily recognized when the hay is examined in 

 the mow. The ergotized seeds are several times larger than the 

 natural seeds— hard, black, and generally curved in shape. 



The effect of the protracted use of ergot in the food is pretty well 

 understood to be that of producing a degeneration and obstruction of 

 the smaller arterial branches. The result is to shut off the blood sup- 

 ply to the distal parts of the body, where the circulation is weakest, 

 and thus to produce a mummification or dry gangrene of the extrem- 



