SPECIAL REPORT ON DISEASES OF CATTLE TEXT

return is hastened by excitement and in a short time again disappears, continuing to disappear and reappear until death results. As the poisonous effect advances the intervals between the spasms become shorter and less marked and the spasms more severe until the animal dies in violent struggles. _Treatment._--The best method is to put the patient under the influence of chloral, chloroform, or ether, and keep it there continuously until the effect of the poison has passed off. Alcohol may be given in large doses. ACONITE POISONING. In recent years tincture of aconite has become a popular stable remedy. If an animal is ailing, aconite is given whether indicated or not. Fortunately the dose used is generally small, and for this reason the damage done is much less than it would otherwise be. Aconite is one of the most deadly poisons known. It produces paralysis of motion and sensation, depresses the heart's action, and causes death by paralysis of respiration. In large doses it causes profuse salivation, champing of the jaws, and attempts at swallowing. If not sufficient to cause death, there is impaired appetite with more or less nausea for some time after. In poisonous doses it causes the animal to tremble violently, to lose power to support itself, and brings on slight convulsions, with perspiration. The pulse is depressed, irregular, and afterwards intermittent. _Treatment._--The chemical antidote is tannic acid, which forms an insoluble compound with the aconitin. The depressing effect on the heart should be counteracted by the use of ammonia, digitalis, alcohol, camphor, or other diffusible stimulants, which have a physiological effect opposite to aconite. POISONOUS PLANTS. An important group of poisons may be classed under this head. In most cases it is poison naturally belonging in the plant; in other cases the poisonous principle is developed in what would otherwise be harmless plants as a plant disease, or as a fermentation or putrefaction due to bacterial growth and observed in forage, grain, or meal that has become heated, damaged, or "spoilt." The subject of poisonous plants is an important one and is of especial interest to those using the western stock ranges, for it is probable that there is no other single cause producing so many fatalities. In this article only a few of the more important plants are treated in a brief way, for an extended treatise would be necessary if the subject were to be handled adequately. Further information should be sought in the more elaborate publications. Many of the American poisonous plants have been treated in bulletins issued by the United States Department of Agriculture. _Treatment for plant poisoning._--Remedies given by the mouth in most cases fail to give relief to cattle affected by poisonous plants. The material of the poisonous plants in the first stomach is not very largely affected by a remedy given as a drench. If any beneficial result is effected, it must be on the material which has already passed into the fourth stomach, so that to get any real antidotal result the remedy must be given repeatedly in order to meet the alkaloid poisons as they are passing through the fourth stomach. While certain substances like tannic acid and potassium permanganate are the logical antidotes for plant poisons, in practical application they are very disappointing in the treatment of ruminant animals. Reliance must be mainly on prevention and upon such remedies as will increase elimination. A laxative or purgative is always helpful, and for this purpose Epsom salt may be given in pound doses, or linseed oil in doses of 1 or 2 pints. In some few cases special remedies can be given as is indicated below. It is well to bear in mind that cattle while grazing freely in good pasture are not likely to eat poisonous plants to any extent. If these same plants are gathered and thrown in a pile, the animals, through a kind of pernicious curiosity, may eat them with disastrous results. This has frequently happened when freshly cut branches of cherry, yew, oleander, and other plants have been thrown where dairy cattle could get at them. OAKS. The foliage of oaks is a valuable constituent of the forage on many ranges and pastures. It has been shown, however, that when this is eaten without some admixture of other food, cattle frequently sicken and die. Many cases of the poisoning of cattle by acorns have been reported in England and Germany, and there have been some complaints in the United States. Harmful results from eating acorns do not seem likely to occur except as they are eaten in considerable quantities. _Symptoms._--The symptoms of oak poisoning are constipation, mucus and blood in the feces, emaciation, and edema. The symptoms of acorn poisoning are much the same. _Treatment._--Change of pasture or an addition of other food material. HORSE CHESTNUT--BUCKEYE. All the species of _∆sculus,_ popularly known as horse chestnut or buckeye, are considered poisonous. The bark, leaves, and fruit are injurious. It is said that if the fruit is boiled or roasted and washed out it becomes harmless and even is a desirable addition to the feed of cattle. The Indians in time of scarcity of food have used the fruit after preparing it in this way. The buckeyes are said to have a specific effect in producing abortion in cattle and goats. DEATH CAMAS (SPECIES OF ZYGADENUS). The death-camas plants, which are commonly known in the Pacific States as "lobelia," are especially destructive of sheep, but cattle sometimes eat them and are poisoned. Cases of cattle poisoning are not likely to result fatally. _Symptoms._--The symptoms are salivation, nausea accompanied by vomiting, great weakness, and lowered temperature. _Treatment._--There is no effective treatment for death-camas poisoning. FLY POISON (CHROSPERMA MUSC∆TORIUM). This plant, which is closely related to the death-camas plants, is sometimes known as "stagger grass" and causes a considerable loss in the Southern States. It grows earlier than the grasses, and on this account is more likely to be eaten. Like death camas, it produces pronounced nausea, resulting in vomiting and weakness, and in cases which recover the effects may continue for several days. Apparently the injurious effects are more common in the case of cattle than in other domestic animals. There is no known way of treating these animals, though doubtless purgatives would be beneficial. YEW (TAXUS BACCATA). The European yew has long been known as a very poisonous plant. It is cultivated in America, and while cases of poisoning have not been common, it is well to recognize its dangerous character. A comparatively small dose is poisonous and ordinarily acts with great rapidity. It causes respiratory paralysis and the animal dies in convulsions. LAUREL. The laurels, including the broad-leafed laurel, _Kalmia latifolia_, the narrow-leafed laurel, _Kalmia angustifolia_, the rhododendrons, and other closely related plants are poisonous and cause considerable losses. It is dangerous to let cattle graze where these plants are abundant at times when other forage is scarce. The symptoms are salivation, nausea and vomiting, spasms, dizziness, stupor, and death. FERN. The common brake or bracken fern, _Pteris aquilina_, has been considered responsible for the poisoning of many horses and cattle. Many cases have been reported in England and Germany, and some well-authenticated cases in the United States. Very little has been learned experimentally of fern poisoning, but there seems to be little question that it has been the cause of many deaths. The symptoms are said to be temperature higher than normal, loss of appetite, bloody discharges from mouth, nose, and bowels, and great depression followed by coma and death. Some authors say that the urine is colored by blood. It is thought by some that the disease known as "red water" in the northwestern United States and Canada is caused by eating ferns. SORGHUM POISONING. Under certain conditions sorghum contains enough hydrocyanic acid to make it exceedingly dangerous to cattle. These cases of poisoning most commonly occur when cattle are pastured upon the young plant or upon a field where the crop has been cut and is making a second growth. Conditions of drought make the sorghum especially dangerous. There is some reason to think that the frosted second growth is particularly rich in hydrocyanic acid. The cases of poisoning occur when animals are grazed upon the plant, but not from the harvested crop or from silage. If cattle are grazed on sorghum or sorghum stubble they should at first be under constant observation and should be removed as soon as any signs of illness appear. Similar precautions should be used in grazing kafir. CORNSTALK DISEASE. Considerable losses of cattle have occurred when they were turned upon cornfields in the fall. Deaths come very suddenly and there is no opportunity to apply remedies. It has been thought that these fatalities, like those from sorghum, were caused by hydrocyanic acid, but there is good reason to think that this is not true, and at the present time there is no accepted explanation of this disease, although there seems to be no doubt that it is connected in some way with the condition of the corn. Whether a given field is poisonous or not can only be determined by experiment, and the wise farmer will keep his cattle under close observation when they are first turned into a cornfield. WATER HEMLOCK (CICUTA). This plant, growing in wet places by ditches and along creeks, is the most poisonous of North American plants. The root is the poisonous part, and cattle generally get it when it is plowed up or washed out by high water. Sometimes they pull it up, for the plant occasionally grows out into ditches so that the whole plant will be taken in grazing. The most marked symptoms of Cicuta poisoning are the violent convulsions, which remind one of the effect of strychnin. _Treatment._--Little can be done in the way of treatment. The logical thing is to attempt to control the convulsions by means of morphia, but in view of the fact that the stomach can not be emptied, the prognosis is not good, and most cases die. LARKSPURS. The larkspurs are a source of heavy loss to cattle owners in the higher ranges of the West. There are a number of species, growing at altitudes from 4,000 feet to timber line, and all are poisonous. A few cases of poisoning by larkspurs have been reported in the eastern United States, but most of the losses are confined to the West, both because larkspurs grow there in greater profusion and because cattle are grazed in that region on the open ranges. The losses are confined to cattle, for sheep and horses can graze on larkspur with no resulting harm. Most of the larkspur losses occur in the spring and early summer, as the plants lose their toxicity after maturing. _Symptoms._--Larkspur poisoning is accompanied by a definite line of symptoms. In range animals the first symptom noted is generally the sudden falling of the animal and consequent inability to rise. After a while it may rise, only to fall again. This may happen repeatedly. In severe cases the animal lies prone and exhibits nausea, accompanied by vomiting. It dies of respiratory paralysis, death many times being hastened by the asphyxia following the vomiting. _Treatment._--The animal, if found down, should be turned so that its head is uphill in order to relieve the lungs. Many cases will recover with no further treatment. Nearly all cases will recover if a hypodermic injection is given immediately of physostigmin salicylate 1 grain, pilocarpin hydrochlorid 2 grains, strychnin sulphate 1/2 grain. LOCO. The loco plants have caused especially heavy losses of cattle, horses, and sheep. They grow in the semiarid regions of the West and sometimes in great luxuriance. The best known are the "blue loco," the "woolly loco" or "purple loco," and the "white loco" or "rattle-weed." The blue loco is common in parts of New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah. It affects both horses and cattle. The purple loco, _Astragalus mollissimus_, is common in Texas and the adjoining States and extends north as far as Nebraska and Colorado. It is especially destructive to horses. The white loco, _Oxytropis lamberti_, is still more widely distributed, being found in the plains region from Alaska to Mexico and west of the Rocky Mountains to central Utah. The white loco is much more important than the purple loco, for it affects not only horses but cattle and sheep. These plants belong to the pea family, and there are a number of other species of this family that are loco plants and produce the same symptoms. _Symptoms._--Loco poisoning is a chronic condition and symptoms are shown only after somewhat prolonged feeding. The condition is one of cumulative poisoning, and animals sometimes decline very rapidly after the first symptoms appear. In many cases animals acquire a habit of eating loco and prefer it to any other feed. The poison affects the central nervous system. There is a lack of muscular coordination and the animal performs very erratic movements. In the later stages the animal becomes emaciated and eventually dies of starvation. _Treatment._--Locoed animals are badly constipated, and it is important that this condition should be remedied at the start. Any purgative can be used, but Epsom salt has been found especially effective. If locoed animals can be turned into a field of alfalfa, a large proportion of them will recover with no further treatment. Recovery may be aided by giving cattle, hypodermically, daily doses of three-twentieths to four-twentieths of a grain of strychnin. By this treatment cattle can be cured and put in condition for market. WHITE SNAKEROOT (EUPATORIUM URTIC∆FOLIUM). White snakeroot, frequently known as "rich weed," is a plant growing in great abundance in some of the eastern and central regions of the United States. It is particularly abundant in parts of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, and in western North Carolina. It is responsible for most, if not all, of the cases of a disease which is commonly known as "milk sickness." _Symptoms._--The animals are constipated, sometimes have bloody feces, become weak, and exhibit muscular trembling. This trembling is very characteristic, so that the disease is sometimes known as "the trembles." _Remedy._--There are no remedies which will work very efficiently. It is desirable to give the animals purgatives like Epsom salt and, of course, to remove them from fields where this plant is abundant. RAYLESS GOLDENROD (ISOCOMA WRIGHTII). The rayless goldenrod is a plant growing in especial abundance in parts of the Pecos Valley in New Mexico and Arizona, and there produces a disease so much like that produced in the East by white snakeroot that it is sometimes called milk sickness. More generally this disease goes under the name of "alkali disease." The plant has produced heavy losses in the regions where it grows abundantly. _Symptoms._--The symptoms are much like those produced by the white snakeroot. The animals are constipated, sometimes have bloody feces, become weak, and exhibit muscular trembling. There is good reason to think, too, that the milk of cows eating this plant is more or less injurious. _Treatment._--A purgative like Epsom salt will aid an animal in recovering, but most important is to remove the cattle from pastures where the plant is abundant and give them an abundance of good forage. Under such conditions they are almost certain to recover. MILKWEEDS. Many of the milkweeds have long been known to have more or less poisonous properties. Within the last few years it has been discovered that certain of the milkweeds going under the popular name of whorled milkweeds are especially toxic. There are at least four species of whorled milkweeds, but two of them are particularly important from the standpoint of people handling livestock. One, known scientifically as _Asclepias galioides_, is harmful in Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico, while another, known as _Asclepias mexicana_, has produced losses, especially in California and Nevada. These whorled milkweeds are distasteful to all animals and are eaten only when the stock is closely confined to pastures where there is little else in the way of forage. _Symptoms._--The most prominent symptoms are weakness, producing staggering, and this is followed in acute cases by violent spasms. _Treatment._--There is no treatment which will effectively antidote the effect of the poison. In practically all cases, however, poisoning may be avoided if care is taken to prevent animals from being closely confined where this plant is abundant, as they never eat the plant by choice. CHERRY. In the leaves of the cherries more or less hydrocyanic acid is produced, and when these leaves are eaten in any considerable quantity cases of poisoning are likely to arise. It is popularly supposed that these cases arise from eating wilted cherry leaves, but there is every reason to think that the fresh leaves will produce the same results. These cases are easily prevented, because no harm results from eating a small quantity of the leaves, and if the fact is recognized that poisoning may result from eating a large quantity, it is not difficult to care for the animals so as to prevent poisoning. ERGOTISM. The poisonous effects of ergot (Pls. V, VI) appear chiefly in the winter and spring of the year and among cattle. It is developed among grasses grown on rich soil in hot, damp seasons. Rye seems more liable to ergot than any of our other crops. Of the grasses which enter into the composition of hay, bluegrass is the most likely to become affected. Ergot may also affect redtop, oats, grasses, and grains. On the plant the fungus manifests itself on the seeds, where it is easily recognized when the hay is examined in the mow. The ergotized seeds are several times larger than the natural seeds--hard, black, and generally curved in shape. The effect of the protracted use of ergot in the feed is pretty well understood to be that of producing a degeneration and obstruction of the smaller arterial branches. The result is to shut off the blood supply to the distal parts of the body, where the circulation is weakest, and thus to produce a mummification or dry gangrene of the extremities, as the ears, tail, feet, etc. Cattle seem to be more susceptible than other animals to the influence of ergot, possibly on account of the slowness of the heart's action. When the effect of the poison has become sufficient to entirely arrest the circulation in any part, the structures soon die. The disorder manifests itself as lameness in one or more limbs; swelling about the ankle which may result in only a small slough or the loss of a toe, but it may circumscribe the limb at any point below the knee or hock by an indented ring below which the tissues become dead. The indentation soon changes to a crack, which extends completely around the limb, forming the line of separation between the dead and living structures. The crack deepens till the parts below drop off without loss of blood, and frequently with very little pus. Ergot may cause serious irritation of the digestive tract, or by acting upon the nervous system it may cause lethargy or paralysis. It also operates to cause contraction of the uterus, and may thus cause abortion. _Treatment._--Regarding the treatment, change of feed and local antiseptics are, of course, indicated. The former may be useful as a preventive, but when the symptoms have appeared the animal is necessarily so completely saturated that recovery is likely to be tedious. Tannin may be given internally in doses of one-half dram twice daily for a few days to neutralize the unabsorbed alkaloids of the ergot. At the same time give