CICUTA, OR WATER HEMLOCK. 13 
Tt should be noted that the feeding was rather desultory in character and was ex- 
tended over such a long time that it could not be considered as a conclusive experiment 
as to the tops, although the impression among the observers was that the tops were not 
injurious. 
Case No. 102. 
Case No. 102 was brought in for feeding with Cicuta on September 14. At8p. m., 
September 15, this wether weighed 93 pounds. At2.05p.m.,it was fed 1 pound and 9 
ounces of ground Cicuta roots. On the morning of September 16 it was given a little 
hay, mixed with the Cicuta which remained from the feeding of the preceding day. 
At 5.50 a. m. it was given 1 pound and 10 ounces of ground Cicuta roots and at 9 p. m. 
was found dead in the corral. It had eaten, all told, in the two days 2 pounds and 8 
ounces, or on the basis of 100 pounds of weight 275 pounds. 
This sheep was autopsied on the morning of September 17. It was bloated; there 
was opisthotonos; it had frothed at the mouth and had evidently kicked about in the 
corral. It was lying on the left side. The surface of the heart was congested. The 
left ventricle was contracted and the right ventricle dilated. The lungs were strongly 
congested, and the inner walls of the trachea and the bronchi inflamed. The walls 
of the lower part of the ileum and cecum were inflamed. The brain and the membranes 
of the spinal cord were congested. A piece of the kidney was preserved and sectioned. 
It showed strong congestion. In the medullary portion the walls of the tubules were 
in good condition, and the blood was confined to the vessels and was not broken down. 
In the cortical portion the walls of the tubules were degenerated to some extent. The 
blood was very abundant and was all through the tissue, not being confined to the 
vessels. In the cortex a large part of the red corpuscles were ‘‘ghosts,’’ the pigment 
having been broken down and appearing outside the corpuscles in the form of granules. 
The blood vessels of the tissue of the kidney contained some very large bacteria, 
probably putrefactive organisms. The conclusion is that this condition of the cortex 
is due to a combination of an acute nephritis and post-mortem decomposition. A piece 
of liver was also embedded and sectioned. The liver contained a great deal of blood, 
most of which was hemolyzed and broken down. The liver cells seemed to be normal. 
Large numbers of bacteria similar to those found in the kidney were present in the 
liver. 
FEEDING CICUTA TO CATTLE IN 1910. 
CasE No. 119. 
Case No. 119, a heifer weighing 300 pounds, was brought in September 13 for feeding 
with Cicuta. The animal at that time was in good condition. Feeding was com- 
menced at 8.30 a. m. on September 14, when she was given three roots, to see whether 
she would eat the plant. At9.10 a.m. she was fed 1 pound and 5 ounces of the whole 
roots. At 10.20 a. m. she was found on the ground in a fit. The animal got up, 
but scon went down again in a violent spasm. She kicked, straightening her legs 
rapidly, extended her head, and frothed at the mouth, emitting an occasional bellow. 
She staggered about the corral in a dazed way and went down, kicking violently. 
An attempt was made to give her a drench of magnesium sulphate and tannin, but 
her struggles were so violent that it was impossible. A series of photographs taken 
between 10.27 and 11 show the condition and attitudes assumed. (PI. IV.) At 
10.35 she was given three grains of morphin hypodermically. At 10.45 the struggles 
were somewhat less violent, perhaps because of exhaustion, and at 10.50 she died. 
An autopsy was made immediately. The skin was very much congested, the teats 
being violet purple in color. The surface of the heart was congested, the left ventricle 
contracted, and the right expanded, with slight congestion on the inner wall. The 
lungs and inner walls of the trachea and bronchi were congested. The walls of the 
anus were inflamed, the kidneys were congested, the brain slightly congested, and 
the membranes of the spinal cord somewhat congested. The omentum had spots of 
