CICUTA AS A POISONOUS PLANT. 
|o the surface a considerable number of roots, ajul these are eaten by 
cattle, with resulting sickness and death. It has been stated that 
jiter has been poisoned by roots broken by the trampling of cattle, 
tut these stories are not well authenticated. 
Most of the accounts of the loss of domestic animals refer to cattle, 
but sheep, horses, and swine are sometimes killed, and there is no 
doubt that Cicuta is 
poisonous to all the 
higher animals. 
SYMPTOMS OF CI- 
CUTA POISONING. 
The symptoms of 
Cicuta poisoning in 
man are pain in the 
stomach, nausea, 
sometimes leading 
to violent vomiting, 
diarrhea, dilated pu- 
pils, labored, ster- 
torous breathing, 
sometimes frothing 
at the mouth, w^eak 
and rapid pulse, and 
violent convulsions. 
In the lower ani- 
mals the symptoms 
are like those in man, 
but less pronounced. 
The first symptom is 
generally frothing at 
the mouth, 
foUowed 
and 
Fig. 2.— Rootstock and first leaves of Cicuta vagans. The upper 
figure shows the transverse chambers of the rootstock. 
by uneasiness 
pain. This is suc- 
ceeded by violent, intermittent convulsions in which the animal 
kicks, sometimes extending the legs rigidly, throwing back the head, 
and beUow^ing and groaning as though in great pain. There are pe- 
culiar spasmodic contractions of the diaphragm which take the place 
of vomiting in man. In fatal cases the convulsions grow more vio- 
lent until terminated by death, which results from respiratoryfailure. 
QUANTITY OF CICUTA NECESSARY TO POISON. 
The Cicuta root is extremely poisonous. Just how much must be 
eaten to produce ilhiess or death is not known, and the (quantity prob- 
ably varies. While there is reason to think that it is more poisonous 
