The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1904-09-16

The writer or the article DeIeVeS
that the sense by which animals de-
tect poison is that of smell, that of
taste being usually deficient. Carniv-
orOus animals, however. have kind
of halfway sense "between taste and
stomach ache" which tells them when
they have taken anything likely to
disagree with them and nature en-
ables them to get rid of it by the
throat with ease. The writer goes on
to say:
Wolves, tigers, leopards and other
carnivora are difficult to poison be-
cause of the power which they have
p, of rapidly getting rid of the drug.
Lions on the other hand. are very
frequently poisoned. as they eat vora-
ciously and quickly, more like a dog
than the other large felidae. 1t is said
that a good many lion skins, especially
those brought back by foreign counts
and others from Somaliand before the
regrettable misunderstanding be-
tween whites and blacks had begun
in that region famous for large game
were obtained by the unsportsmanlike
method of poisoning carcasses and
leaving them for the lions to devour.
Cattle, which have no less than four
stomachs, are hopelessly poisoned if
bnce they have swallowed q dose,
whether in q toxic plant or otherwise.
1t Is this curious arrangement OF their
interior which makes it such difficult
matter to give cattle medicine at all.
In common with human beings, ami
mails seem to be affected by poison in
certain forms when in particular con-
dition of health. At other times they
can eat the same plant or shrub with
impunity In certain states Of health
a man can eat pork, Holsters, cookies,
Scallops and other somewhat risky
foods without bad effects. At other
times the same edibles would produce
on him the effect of ptOmain poisoning.
Two persons may eat the same food at
the same time, and while one is per-
fectly well afterwards. the other may
become violently ILL., The curious
cases Of yew poisoning among horses
or cattle seem to be somewhat anal
Ogous. They will sometimes browse
!. on shoots of yew and take no harm
what ever. At other times they are
obviously made very i'll or die from
eating the leaves. They have even
been found dead with the yew fresh
and undigested in their stomachs.
Where poisonous plants are present i'll
any great numbers in heritage 1t seems
impossible to prevent cattle from eat
ing them.
Birds seem to have no discrimina-
ton whatever in regard to poisons.
probably because they have no sense
of smell, and swallow their food with
out masticating it. Such intelligent
birds as rocks will pick up and eat
poisoned grain, and crows and ravens
readily cat poisoned eggs or meat.
Chickens will eat poisonous seeds
of the laburnum and die from the eff
fects. Whether birds such as tits and
bullfncheS ever do so does not seem
to be known.
Wild birds are frequently found dy-
ing in gardens, though apparently they |
have been in good health a few hours |
before and their death may probably |
be due to the consumption of poison
Gus seeds. Animals will occasionally |
fail to recognize the poisonous plants |
OF a strange region. The writer cites
an instance where canals from India |
and Somaliland were sent out together
in the latter country. The native |
camels thrived. but the Indian camels |
were ali poisoned. It is possible, Of |
course, that both varieties of camels |
ate of the poisonous herbs of the re-
gion, but that the native beasts had |
been rendered immune in some way |
as cats that have eaten snake poison |
are believed to become protected from |
cobra bites. The writer, however, IA
vors the theory that they purposely |
avoided what they instinctively knew |
to be poisonous. He goes on: "What |
ever reason for the fact, warning |
notices OF various kinds are frequent
~ affixed by mature to poisonous
plants, almost as legibly as the label |
which the law insists that chemists |
shall place upon poisonous drugs. |
Many of the poisonous fungi have an
odious smell, so much so that no NAM
NAL or bird ever thinks of touching
them. On the other hand, the scent of |
the mushroom is distinctively appe-
tizing and pleasant. Henbane, an ex-
ceptionally poisonous and quite beauti-
full wild plant, has a most unpleasant
scent which is instantly detected by |
cattle when the plant is green. They
most carefully avoid touching it when