434 
W. J. MARTIN. 
body weight when administered through the mouth, and 7 mil- 
legrams per kilogram when injected hypodermically. 100 mil- 
legrams (about 1.4 grains) will kill a cat weighing about 2 kilo¬ 
grams (4.4 pounds) if fed to it. The prominent symptoms are 
very similar to those produced when the plant itself has been 
eaten, and consists of salivation and constant trembling of the 
limbs, with cramps and convulsions, finally ending in death. 
Remedies Sometimes Used .—Cases of poisoning of stock by 
the water hemlocks are very difficult to handle, both because 
the animals generally become wild and unmanageable, and be¬ 
cause the. action of the poison is so rapid that the animal is 
usually dead when found. Tannin is mentioned by Frohner as 
a chemical antidote, but it must be used together with chloral 
or with hypodermic injections of morphine to offset the physio¬ 
logical action of the poison already absorbed into the system. 
Animals generally die after eating fatal doses, but they are able 
in some instances to vomit the excess and recover. Stockmen 
occasionally save their animals by administering two or three 
daily doses of melted lard. 
POISON CAMAS. 
Species and Distribution.— The species of poisoii camas 
(.Zygadenus species) are but few in number and in great part con¬ 
fined to the northwestern and western parts of North America. 
One species occurs in Siberia and another in Mexico. Their pub¬ 
lished reputation as poisonous plants is, however, mainly con¬ 
fined to America and to the last century. They are all poison¬ 
ous and sometimes fatal to both man and beast. They are all 
smooth, single stemmed, onion-like, but unscented plants, one- 
half to 3 feet high, with coated bulbs, long, grasslike leaves, and 
single cylindrical clusters of yellow, white, or greenish flowers, 
which finally develop into dry, three-horned seed capsules. The 
plants have much the appearance of .grass in the early stages of 
their growth. 
Some botanists recognize at least six different species as 
native to the Northwest, but as only three of these have been 
extensively mentioned in any way, attention will be confined 
