570 
REPORTS OF CASES. 
and bearing a white or yellow blossom. As the animals did not 
eat the loco and there was plenty of grass and water in that vi¬ 
cinity we did not think there was any necessity of moving 
them. It was about two months after that we noticed some of 
the mares were not doing as well as the others and upon close 
observation we noticed that they were eating the loco weed. 
About this time we had quite a long spell of dry weather and 
the grass dwindled, but the loco seemed to thrive if anything 
better than ever. One mare in the herd seemed to be affected 
more than the others. She would stray away from the bunch 
at every opportunity and eat every bit of loco she could find, 
and would hardly touch grass at all. When one tried to drive 
her into the herd she would try and run off in an opposite direc¬ 
tion and even run headlong into the horse the herder was riding. 
There was a glassy, vacant look about the eyes ; animal very 
emaciated ; head outstretched, as if animal was suffering from a 
sore throat ; coat staring, and when trotting would lift all four 
feet unnaturally high, and if crowded would fall headlong. 
Animal seemed to imagine little sticks lying on the ground 
were high fences, over which she would jump, and that little 
hollows were wide ditches. I noticed all the animals affected 
were constipated, faeces covered with mucous. Some showed 
signs of being affected only when excited or warmed up with 
exercise. I have seen old saddle ponies that are locoed affected 
in various ways—one in particular that the cowboys had to 
throw and tie down to saddle, but as soon as a person was on his 
back he would behave as if nothing was wrong. The cowboys 
claim that most horses affected show violent symptoms only 
when excited or warmed up. In some instances where the 
sight is affected I have seen horses run head first into a brick 
wall or rail fence. We started home with the herd in October, 
leaving six behind us dead from the effects of the loco weed, 
and we had a great deal of trouble in keeping about eighteen 
affected animals up with the rest of the herd. Every horse that 
had eaten the weed to any extent died before that winter was 
over. In the bunch that I have mentioned all the animals that 
were locoed were mares over six years of age. The colts, geld¬ 
ings, and mules showed no symptoms of the weed at all. There 
were twenty-three deaths from eating loco out of a herd of three 
hundred in something under a year. 
I feel confident that loco is a narcotic poison, but what the 
actual properties of the weed are I do not know. People living 
in a “ loco ” country say change of pasture is a cure, but I may 
