HORSETAIL FAMILY. 27 
If treatment is begun soon enough, some of the ani- 
* mals may be saved. It is important to remove all traces 
of the poison as quickly as possible from the 
alimentary canal and to prevent access to 
mouldy or spoiled feed of any kind. It is necessary also 
to discontinue immediately the feed-stuffs in use and pro- 
vide an entire change of feed, to avoid a further ingestion 
of poisonous substance. A purge and nerve stimulants as 
well as atropin for the circulation are recommended. 
Haslam prescribes injections of arecolin or eserin and 
pilocarpin followed by an antiferment and possibly an 
aloes bolus. Where paralysis of the throat has begun 
medicine cannot be given by mouth except by means of 
the stomach tube, as it is almost sure to enter the air pas- 
sages and cause suffocation. 
HORSETAIL FAMILY—£ quisetaceae. 
THE HORSETAILS—Equisetum spp. 
In ancient times the Horsetail family was one of the 
most important. The fossil record shows that its mem- 
bers formed a striking part of the coal forest swamps, 
their jointed stems, two feet or more in thickness, rising 
to heights of fifty to one hundred feet. To-day there are 
only a few isolated species of a single genus, composed 
of small plants ranging from a few inches to a few feet 
in height. Unable to keep pace with changing conditions 
the race has been falling behind for millions of years. 
Animals of the coal forests may have found the Horse- 
tails edible, but in their present form some at least are 
quite injurious. With regard to the nature 
Examples and of the poison, there is some diversity of 
“ectite af opinion, although the old idea of the mec- 
oisoning zs : oe 
hanical action of silica, a common and some- 
times prominent constituent of the Horsetails, has been 
Treatment 
