THE WHORLED MILKWEED AS A POISONOUS PLANT. 17 
the wall of the corral and fell. This was repeated two or three times, 
and it was noticed that before falling the head was drawn toward 
the body in somewhat the same attitude as that assumed by Horse 
126. After 2 p. m. the steer was considered on the road to recovery 
and was able to remain upon its feet. It was kept in the corral until 
5.30, August 28, when it was turned into the pasture. At that time, 
while it had recovered, it seemed somewhat weak and staggered when 
driven. Thereafter its recovery seemed to be complete. 
On September 22, at 10.45 a. m., it was given 450 grams of dried 
plant, which was equivalent to 0.551 pound of green plant per 
hundredweight of animal. This animal was fed with about 5 pounds 
of alfalfa hay, and it was expected that this quantity might be suffi- 
cient to produce fatal results. By noon all but 2 pounds of the mix- 
ture had been eaten, and while no note was made of the completion 
of the feeding, it is supposed that the remainder was eaten during 
the afternoon. 
At 7.15 a. m., September 23, the animal was found lying on the 
right side, and evidently had been lying and kicking for a consider- 
able period. An unusual noise was heard in the corral that morning 
at 3.45 but was not investigated and it was presumed that the animal 
was down at that time. The pupils were dilated and the jaw 
moved constantly as if it were chewing. From that time until death, 
at 3.35 p. m., the animal was upon the ground most of the time and 
there were almost continuous spasms. It was considerably bloated 
and frequently breathed with groans. Considerable gas was belched 
from the stomach, which may have relieved the bloating to some ex- 
tent. During the spasms the pupils were dilated and it was evident 
that the animal had salivated considerably. 
Sometimes it bellowed loudly as though in pain and most of the 
time the spasms were so frequent that the motion of the legs was 
nearly continuous in a walking or running movement. In the spasms 
the head was sometimes drawn back in the position of opisthotonos, 
while at others it was drawn to the breast. This condition continued 
until death. 
Immediately after death an autopsy was made. The body was con- 
siderably bloated, the gas being especially evident in the first and 
second stomachs. The blood vessels of the ileum were unusually full. 
The only other abnormal condition was the fullness of the blood ves- 
sels in the meninges of the brain and of the spinal cord. 
SHEEP EXPERIMENTS. 
Twenty-nine different experiments were made with sheep during 
the season of 1918. Of these 2 were sick and recovered and 10 died. 
Thirty-seven experiments with sheep were made in 1919. Of these 
4 exhibited symptoms, 4 were sick, and 3 died. A general summary 
129410°— 20— Bull. 800 3 
