48 



BULLETIX 12 45, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



along irrigating ditches or find them along watercourses in mountain 

 valleys where they have been washed out by the high water. 



Symptoms, Treatment, and Losses 



The symptoms of Cicuta poisoning are frothing at the mouth and most 

 violent convulsions, which in a short time ordinarily end in death. Fig- 

 ure 22 shows a calf in convulsions as the result of eating water hemlock. 

 When cattle are severely poisoned the convulsions are so violent that 

 it is almost impossible to administer a remedy; in fact, no effective 

 remedy is known, and death is almost certain to follow cases of 

 severe poisoning by this plant. 



It frequently happens that human beings, especially children, are 

 poisoned by Cicuta, in which case if an emetic can be given promptly, 

 so that the stomach is quickly emptied, recovery usually takes place. 



Because of the fact that 

 ruminant animals can 

 not empty the stomach 

 by vomiting, this rem- 

 edy can not be applied 

 to them. 



The losses from Ci- 

 cuta poisoning are not 

 ordinarily very heavy, 

 but the individual 

 stockmen occasionally 

 lose a considerable 

 number of animals. 



THE HEATH FAMILY 

 (ERICACEAE) 



Among the plants of 

 the heath family are a 

 number commonly 

 but erroneously called laurels which are important as poisonous 

 plants and occasion heavy losses, more especially of sheep. All these 

 plants contain a poisonous substance known as andromedotoxin. The 

 following brief statements concern the species which are known to 

 cause losses on the western ranges. 



Menziesia glabella 



Menziesia glabella, a shrub which grows in the mountains of the 

 extreme Northwest, has been found to be distinctly poisonous to 

 sheep. It is not known that many losses have occurred from eating 

 this plant, but it was demonstrated in one case in Idaho that the plant 

 was the cause of very heavy losses, and there is no doubt that when 

 sheep in those regions are pastured on the north slopes where 

 Menziesia is more likely to grow, and are short of other food, disas- 

 trous results may follow. Plate 34 shows this plant in flower. 



Black Laurel (Leucothoe davisiae) 



Leucothoe davisiae, generally known throughout the Sierras as 

 black laurel, is particularly destructive to sheep. It has thick, dark- 

 green oval leaves and small white flowers in erect racemes (pi. 35) and 



Figure 22. — Calf in convulsions resulting from poison- 

 ing by spotted water hemlock, Cicuta macula t a 



