CICUTA, OR WATER HEMLOCK. 23 
Hedrick, 1897, pages 7 to 9, gives notes of experiments of Prof. 
French in feeding roots of Cicuta vagans 11 March. One 2-year-old 
heifer died in an hour and a half from eating not more than 2 drams 
of one root. Another one was fed “‘two bulbs the size of an egg ”’ 
and died in two hours and a half. The bulbs were kept growing in 
a greenhouse, and feeding experiments conducted early in May, 
in which several times the quantity used in March produced no ill 
effects. This seemed to prove conclusively that the roots diminish 
in toxicity as the growth progresses. | 
The experimental work at Mount Carbon gave very little exact 
information in regard to this. The feeding of roots occurred from 
the middle of August until September 21. Of the sheep, two were 
made sick and one died. The two cattle experimented upon died. 
In all cases the. quantity eaten was considerably more than that 
reported by others as poisonous in the spring. The smallest quan- 
tity was in the case of No. 119, which ate five pounds per 1,000 
pounds of weight, September 14. Of course, at this season, the 
middle of September, the plant is mature, and if the toxic principle 
accumulates in the rootstock it might be expected to be as poisonous 
as in the spring unless some chemical change takes place during the 
winter. The experiments in August indicate that the roots are | 
poisonous at that time. It seems probable that they are poisonous 
at all times of the year, but that the toxicity 1s very much diminished 
_ during the growing season of the plant. 
REMEDIES FOR CICUTA POISONING. 
It was noticed by the older authors that when the eating of Cicuta 
was followed by vomiting, the patient usually recovered. The logi- 
cal remedy, then, is an emetic, and when this is given promptly with 
the first symptoms the prognosis is favorable. What is known of 
the poisonous principle, cicutoxin, would indicate that it is probably 
dissolved in the stomach slowly and with some difficulty, and that 
prompt evacuation of the stomach may remove most of the trouble. 
The emetic is logically followed by a cathartic to facilitate elimina- 
tion. 
When the convulsions are violent, some form of opium may be 
given to control them, but the main reliance must be upon the emetic. 
This has been the treatment used through the whole history of Cicuta 
poisoning, and no change has been made in modern times beyond 
the use of more efficient means of emptying the stomach. 
In the practical handling of poisoned live stock little can be accom- 
plished in the great majority of cases. The convulsions are so vio- 
lent that it is difficult to give any remedy per os. 
Chesnut and Wilcox, 1901, page 85, recommend hypodermic 
injections of morphin to control the convulsions, giving sheep 14 
grains*and cattle and horses 3 to 10 grains. This may assist in 
