420 The Inseases of Aninels 
the contraction of the muscles, as chloral hydrate, in 
dram doses for a medium-sized dog to one ounce for a 
horse, dissolved in plenty of water. When the spasms 
occur, a few whiffs of chloroform or ether will lessen 
their severity. 
Most cases of poisoning by plants occur in the 
spring, when animals are first turned out to pasture 
and before the grass is well started. Animals will then 
eat plants that under other circumstances they would 
not touch. 
Animals confined in yards or corrals, especially where 
weeds are starting in the spring, are very likely to eat 
injurious kinds. They may die from the effects of such 
poisoning. It is probable that poisonous substances 
sometimes develop in plants at particular stages of 
their growth, and disappear as the plants mature. It 
is probable, also, that animals dying from apparent. 
poisoning may really be destroyed by a sudden change 
of food, especially from dry food to green ; this is true 
when the green food is not of good quality, and when it 
contains weeds and other irritating material. If an ani- 
mal is hungry and the stomach contains comparatively 
little food, eating a large quantity of green weeds or 
similar material brings on acute indigestion, during 
which decomposition of the contents of the stomach 
seems to take place, and poisons are formed that kill 
the animal very quickly by stopping the action of the 
heart. In such eases, the animals usually show signs 
of muscular weakness, a dripping of saliva from the 
mouth, and great debility. They often lie down and die 
with scarcely a struggle. Whenever animals are to be 
