2 BULLETIN 1391, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
he upheld the theory that salts of aluminum caused the disease. He 
stated that he had isolated aluminum phosphate from some Aplo- - 
pappus stems obtained from Wooton, and expressed his belief that 
the so-called alkali disease or milk sickness of the Pecos Valle}^ was 
caused by aluminum phosphate in the plant. 
In the Journal of Infectious Diseases, September, 1909, Jordan 
and Harris (3) published their article on milk sickness, which disease 
they thought was caused by a bacterium, called by them Bacillus 
lactimorbi. They mention the fact that the rayless goldenrod is be- 
lieved by some to he the cause of the disease as it occurs in the Pecos 
Valley. In the same number of the publication mentioned, Luck- 
hardt (4), in an article entitled "Additional Notes on the Bac- 
teriology and Pathology of Milksickness," stated that he had found 
B. lactimorbi on the rayless goldenrod. Jordan and Harris and 
Luckhardt assumed that the plant was the carrier of the germ which 
produced the disease. 
In 1914 L. M. Harrison, field agent of the Bureau of Statistics, 
United States Department of Agriculture, forwarded from 
Albuquerque, N. Mex., a letter from R. J. Freeland, of Logan, 
N. Mex., in which it was stated that cattle had been dying, and that 
some people thought it was from eating the plant, of which he 
sent a specimen, and which proved to be the rayless goldenrod. 
In August, 1916, Dr. P. J. Smith, of Carlsbad, N. Mex., sent a sam- 
ple of the weed to the department, stating that stock owners claimed 
that it i:>roduced s}miptoms similar to alkali poisoning, such as 
tremors, weakness, irritation of the intestines and kidneys, polyuria, 
and death if the animal is overheated by exercise. 
In September, 1916, F. L. Schneider, of the Bureau of Animal 
Industry, inspector in charge at Albuquerque, N. Mex., sent a letter 
written by Doctor Kemper, of his force, and also a specimen of the 
rayless goldenrod. Kemper stated that the plant was called " rocea " 
by the Mexicans, that stock eat it mostly in winter and spring, 
and that the symptoms resemble those of turpentine poisoning, 
and appear, as a rule, only when the animals are worked or driven. 
The animals become fatigued rapidly, have an unsteady gait, drag 
their hind legs, have labored breathing, abdominal pains, great weak- 
ness, and if urged further, fall to the ground in convulsion^, death 
following in from a few hours to tw r o days. 
In December, 1917, Clifton Carter, of the Bureau of Animal In- 
dustry, made an investigation of the matter at Grandfalls, Tex., and 
made the following report : 
I found, through conversation with a number of the cowmen and farmers 
at Grandfalls, that there had been a greater loss than usual among their live- 
stock. A considerable number of work horses, stock horses, and cattle, both 
in the pasture and in the fields of the irrigated farms, had died. All agreed 
that there were no new symptoms, but that the loss is occasioned by the same 
cause which had killed stock in the Pecos Valley since its first settlement and 
bad always been known as "alkali poisoning." The loss this year had been 
greater than usual. In this connection I feel that the fact that the drought 
had caused an extreme shortage of feed, and that the Pecos River is so low 
that the water is much more impregnated with salts than usual, should be 
taken into consideration. 
Owing to the fact that the loss in summer is not so great, very few of the 
residents consider the water the cause of the disease. Most of them with 
whom I talked think the rayless goldenrod, a sample of which 1 am forwarding 
