The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1904-01-13
bra bite. But the probability is all in

bra bite. But the probability is all in
favor of the theory that they purposely
avoid and reject what they instinctively
know to be poisonous. If the food Is
pleasant and plentiful there is no rea-
son to believe that animals ever cease
eating until they think thsy have had
enough. and by that time it would prob
ably be too late for them TO make use
of experience on a later occasion.
Whatever be the reason for the fact
warning" notices of various kinds are
frequently affixed by manure 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 mammal or bird ever
thinks CT touching them. On the other
hand, the scent of the mushroom is dis
tinctly appetizing and pleasant Hen
bane, an exceptionally poisonous and
quite beautiful wild plant. has most I'M
pleasant scent which is instantly detected
by cattle when the plant is green. They
most carefully avoid touching it when
growing But it seems TO lose its warn
ing odor when dried in hay. Instance S
have been quoted in which it has been
injurious to cattle when consumed in
this form. The common fools parsley"
which has poisonous seeds, is not, we be-
lieve. eaten by any bird, neither do cattle
touch it when growing in meadows. But
they seem to have no such suspicion
about the water hernlock, which is 50
peculiarly deadly to both cows and horses
Mr. Rider HagSard in his Farmers
Year" describes the sudden death Of
a colt, just turned out with it's mother
in the early spring into the wet meadows
by the river Waveney, from some such
plant eaten in the grass. One of our most
poisonous native plants is the ordinary
fox-glove. from which "d:gitalis" is made
Every part of it is toxic in a high de-
gree-fowers, stem, leaves, and roots. 1t
has no unpleasant odor OF any kind, but
for some reason cattle never touch it.
The lower leaves are among the earliest
to appear on the banks or on commons,
though the tail spike appears much later.
But however scanty the herb1gge, these
leaves are left uneaten. In the hemlocks,
several of which are poisonous TO man Or
beast, the dangerous ingredient varies.
In the spotted hemIock it is CONNIE"
which is present in great quantities in
the seeds, though there is very little in
the leaves and stem. The Greek poison
was probably prepared from these seeds.
as is the medical extract made at the
present time On the other hand, in the
water hemlock, which is not very COM
mon in England, though found abundant
~ by Scotch rivers, and on wet grounds
in the north, the poisonous principle Is
contained in an essential oil. Spotted
hemlock kills or Injuries human beings
by causing paralysis, which progresses
through the nervous centers till it attacks
the lungs In the water hemlock the poi
son acts in a different way. Like another
and more deadly vegetable poison, strych-
nine, it causes tetanic spasms. The diff
ference in the nature of the poison con-
tanned in plants may perhaps account for
the failure of cattle to know the danger
to which they are exposed in eating them.
It may well be that one variety. though
injurious to man, may not affect cattle.
Consequently they might naturally eat
without any misgiving the other variety
which is deadly to them.-London Spec
tatCr