LAKKSPUR POISONING OF LIVE STOCK. 43 
It is commonly believed by stockmen that the root of this plant 
is the most poisonous, and it is generally supposed that the plant pro- 
duces more cases of poisoning after a rain, because at that time the 
ground is soft and the animals can pull up the plant by the roots 
and thus get the part in which the poison is supposed to be con- 
centrated. 
Table IV gives a summary of these experimental feedings. 
Experiments were made by feeding the roots alone, the animals 
used being Nos. 92 and 117. Number 92 in two days ate a quantity 
equivalent to 2.04 pounds per 1,000 pounds of weight, while No. 117 
in one day ate 2.1 pounds per 1,000 pounds. The greatest quantity 
fed at any time was to No. 115, which between July 10 and July 12 
received 100.7 pounds of tops, seeds, and flowers per 1,000 pounds of 
weight. The greatest quantity of the whole plant that was fed, in- 
cluding not only tops but roots, was given to No. 97, which re- 
ceived on July 25 21.2 pounds per 1,000 pounds of weight. No, 91 
received 5 pounds on July 2 and 3, and again on July 16 received 
21.2 pounds. In none of the cases of feeding Delphinium menziesii 
was there any evidence of toxic effect, although the plant was fed 
at different stages, part of it before flowering, part after flowering, 
and even after seed had commenced to form, and attempts were 
made to find out whether one part of the plant was more poisonous 
than another. 
If it were particularly poisonous it seemed that the feeding in a 
single day of 21.2 pounds per 1,000 pounds of weight would have 
produced some effect. It is true, however, that animals upon the 
range, when hungry, will sometimes eat enormous quantities of a 
given plant and it seemed necessary to conduct further experiments 
in order to demonstrate conclusively whether this plant can poison 
or not. So far as the experiments of 1909 only were concerned, it 
appeared probable that the plant was not poisonous, or if poisonous 
at all would do harm only under exceptional circumstances. 
EXPERIMENTAL FEEDING OF DELPHINIUM MENZIESII TO CATTLE IN 1910. 
In 1910, 14 feeding experiments of Delphinium menziesii to cattle 
were carried on with 11 different animals. Of these experiments 9 
produced illness and 3 death. The result of these experiments showed 
that the failure to produce poisoning in 1909 was not due to a lack 
of toxicity in the plant but to feeding it in too small quantities. 
Doubtless similar results would have been produced in 1909 had the 
experiments been continued for a longer time. Table V gives a 
summary of the feeding experiments with Delphinium menziesii to 
cattle in 1910. 
