customary to feed "milk-sick" animals with green corn and pump- 
kin-, and there is good reason to consider this a desirable diet. 
Inasmuch as the toxic substance of the plant is eliminated very 
slowly, quick recovery must not be expected, and the animals should 
be given somewhat prolonged attention. 
PREVENTION. 
In many places " milk-sick " areas have been fenced off, with con- 
sequent prevention of losses. In some localities where Eupatorbna 
urticcefoUum is particularly abundant this evidently is advisable. 
Clearing of land and seeding to corn, grain, or grasses will of course 
stop the trouble. It has long been known that " trembles " affects 
animals pastured on unbroken land and that the disease disappears 
after cultivation. 
So far as getting rid of the plant is concerned, however, it must 
be remembered that partial clearing is not sufficient. It is true that 
the plant favors damp and shaded places, but it sometimes grows 
most luxuriantly on partially cleared land. It has been noticed in 
the mountains of North Carolina that the plant increases enormously 
in cleared land and only disappears after the land has been seeded 
down. When the poisonous character of the plant is recognized 
much can be accomplished by so handling the animals that they do 
not graze largely in areas where it is particularly abundant. 
In this connection it may be noted that inasmuch as it takes a 
fairly large quantity to poison an animal, little harm will result from 
eating the plant for a short time unless the animal is unusually 
hungry. Poisoning is more likely to follow from continued feeding 
as a result of which the toxic substance has a chance to accumulate 
in the system. 
SUMMARY. 
1. Eupatorium urticcefoUum has for some years been considered 
by many people the cause of milk sickness in cattle. 
2. Experimental work shows conclusively that the plant is toxic 
and produces a definite line of s} T mptoms bearing a close resemblance 
to those considered characteristic of trembles. 
3. Probably •many, possibly most, cases of trembles in cattle and 
sheep are due to poisoning by E. urthw folium. 
4. Under the term "milk sickness" or "trembles" are probably 
grouped at least two distinct things — (1) poisoning by E. urticce- 
folium, and (2) a bacterial disease. 
5. Losses of live stock should be avoided by prevention rather than 
by reliance upon remedies. 
