14 BULLETIN 800, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, 
animal being unable to get upon its feet between about 9 o'clock 
and 11.30 a. m. Figure 3, taken at 10.30 a. m., shows the horse in 
the midst of one of its spasms. Figure 4, taken at 11.24 a. m., shows 
a very characteristic attitude in which the horse draws its head back, 
baring its teeth. Generally speaking, in the spasms the head was 
drawn back in the position of opisthotonos, or the head was 
drawn close to the breast. The animal was not quiet more than 5 
or 10 minutes at any time. At 11.39 a. m., it got upon its feet, moved 
a short distance, and then fell again. This was repeated a number 
of times before 12 o'clock and at 12.17 it was again able to get upon 
its feet and staggered across the corral, but immediately fell, going 
down with considerable violence. This was repeated two or three 
times before 1 o'clock p. m. Figure 5, taken at 1.03 p. m., shows 
the animal in one of these brief intervals when he was upon his feet. 
At 1.35 p. m. it was noticed that the walking movements, which 
were seen very markedly in sheep, were noticeable and later be- 
came more rapid, so that between 2 and 3 o'clock the movements of 
the legs were much like those made by an animal in running. Dur- 
ing this time the animal, when clown, was always on its right side 
and moved its head back and forth upon the ground with such vio- 
lence as to result eventually in the loss of sight in the right eye. 
The condition of the horse remained practically the same through 
the remainder of the afternoon and evening. The last observation 
was made at 10.45 p. m. At 2.30, 3.10, and 4.40 one grain of arecolin 
was given subcutaneously. It was noticed at the last observation in 
the evening that it would attempt to eat hay which was placed before 
it. The first observation on August 1 was at 7.15 a. m., and at that 
time the horse was in practically the same position as when left the 
night before. When disturbed it rolled upon its belly, but had great 
difficulty in maintaining that position. At 7.25 it was found standing, 
being especially weak in the hind legs. At 8 o'clock it walked into 
the next corral and drank water copiously. 
Plate Va, figure 6, taken at 8.45, shows the general attitude of the 
animal when standing. It continued to improve and remained on 
its feet during the day, gradually reaching almost complete re- 
covery. It was noticed, however, that at different times, a month 
later, when he was being driven, he would suddenly fall with con- 
siderable violence. It was thought at the time that these falls were 
partly due to defective eyesight, as he was practically blind in the 
right eye. As it is possible that a permanent systemic injury was 
produced by the Asclepias poisoning, the animal was kept under ob- 
servation another year. Whether the arecolin had any marked effect 
in aiding in recovery is a matter of doubt. It is a fact, however, 
that the animal was very sick, and the experience with other animals 
shows that most cases end fatally. It is possible, therefore, that the 
