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,