WESTERN" SNEEZEWEED AS A POISONOUS PLANT. 27 
AUTOPSY FINDINGS. 
In 1915 there were 6 autopsies on sheep, 7 in 1916, 7 in 1917, and 
1 in 1918. In the results of these autopsies no uniform picture was 
presented which could be considered as characteristic of H. lioopesii 
poisoning. In some there were congested lungs and kidneys, but 
this condition was by no means found even in the majority of cases. 
Generally speaking there was, however, distinct congestion of parts 
of the alimentary canal. In nearly all cases there was congestion 
of the duodenum and ileum, and in most of them congestion of the 
walls of the stomachs. In some cases this congestion was found in 
the cecum and even in the rectum, but this was not ordinarily the 
case. It can hardly be said that the autopsies gave any diagnostic 
characteristics of H. Jioopesii poisoning. 
In 4 of the 5 acute cases on which autopsies were held a consider- 
able mass of serous coagulum was found on or near the rumino- 
reticular groove. This, doubtless, was caused by the marked effect 
of the E. lioopesii poison upon the circulatory system, as explained 
in the discussion of the pathology which follows. 
MICROSCOPIC PATHOLOGY OF H. HOOPESII POISONING. 
The pathological changes occurring in the tissues of sheep poisoned 
with Helenium hoopesii, or its extracts, vary with the type of the 
case and the method of administering the material. 
Liver. — In all types of cases the liver is affected, the hepatic cells 
varying in condition. In acute cases the liver cords may appear 
compressed from edema, and the hepatic cells themselves often 
contain large, irregular-shaped, open spaces. In other cases the 
hepatic cells are swollen so as to obscure the capillaries. In the 
chronic type, mild cloudy swelling or fatty degenerative changes 
may occur. In one case interstitial hepatitis, and in another a well- 
marked small-cell infiltration occurred. Bile ducts are very 
frequently catarrhal or sometimes badly broken down. 
The quantity of blood varies between wide limits, a few cases 
being severely congested, while in others very little blood is present. 
In all cases the blood stream in the liver is affected, this being 
seen best in the central lobular and sublobular veins. In many 
such veins, besides normal erythrocytes, there are leached or degen- 
erate erythrocytes, granular material, areas of numerous leucocytes, 
and sometimes fibrous material. Hepatic cells sometimes are 
floating in the blood stream. These bodies may or may not be 
attached to the wall of the vein. While some of them may be formed 
about the time of death when the blood flow becomes very sluggish, 
their structure would indicate that they are thrombi. 
The thrombi and the edematous, or swollen, liver cells occasion 
some resistance to the blood flow, and sometimes cause the mesen- 
teric veins; the spleen, and the pancreas to be more or less congested. 
