The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1904-01-13
@es ANIMALS DETECT POISON


3 ~~~o~~>~~~o--Oo~~>~. :
4 The sense by which animals detect the,
presence of poison is mainly that Of
smell. They seem to have very little
sense of taste upon the palate But car
nivorous animals have a kind of halt
way sense between taste ana stomach
ache which very soon tells them when
they have taken poison or anything like
ly TO disagree with them, and Nature has
kindly arranged that they can get rid of
it by the throat with very great eastA An
extraordinary instance OF this was quoted
in the Country Gentleman last August.
"A Scotch keeper had retriever which he
had taught TO fetch any object that he
had left behind him. One day on the
:. moors in the spring he found that he had
left his knife at a place when he had
been sitting no great way down the hin,
and sent the dog to fetch it. The dog
galloped back to the place. and, findingg
the knife, concluded that that was what
he was 10 fetch. and picked it up. So
much seems certain from the sequel, for
when the dog arrived he had not got the
knife and also looked somewhat shame
, again, but he would not 60 He went
I back taking the dog with hmm No
: knife was there; and 1t was certain that
had it been dropped the dog would have
picked it up. 1t then flashed across his
mind that the dog, in running up the hill
with the object in his mouth, had swal-
lowed the knife. Unfortunately as it
= apparently was not uncomfortable the
retriever showed no sign of wishing to
do other than digest it, which. as it was Il
+. valuable dog. the keeper was most I'M
willing to risk. So he TOOK a handful Of
salt, clapped it into the dogs mouth. and
held it tight for a minute-and after one
Or two coughs the knife made its APP
pearance. The dog was of course trying
to get rid of the salt, not the knife.
Wolves, tigers, leopards. and other car
nivora are difficult to poison because of
the power which they have of rapidly
getting rid of the drug. Lions, on The
other hand, are very frequently poisoned.
as they eat voraciously and quickly, more
like dog that the other large felidae.
1t is said that a good many lion skins, es-
pecially those brought back by foreign
counts and others from Somaliland be-
fore the regreta BILE misunderstanding be-
tween whites and black had begun in that
region famous for large game. were OBJ
tanned by the unsportsman.ike method
of poisoning carcasses and leaving them
for the lions to devo4T. Cattle which
have no less than four stomachs, are
hopelessly poisoned if they have swallow
ed dose, whether in a toxic plant or
otherwise 1t is this curious arrange ment
of their interiors which makes it such
difficult matter to give cattle medicine at
all. Il
In common with human beings, animals
seem to be affected by poison in certain
forms when in particular condition Of
health. At other times they can eat the
same plant or shrub with impunity. In
certain states f health man can eat
pork Holsters. cookies. scailops and other
somewhat risky foods without bad eff
fects. At other times the same edibles
would produce on him the effect of pto-
aine poisoning. Two persons may eat
the same food at the same time, and
lie one is perfectly well afterwards,
other man become violently i'll. The
!ous cases of yew poisoning among
tie or horses seem to be somewhat
lalogous. They will sometimes browse
a shoots of yew ard take no harm
=. 7hatever At other times they are OBJ
; viously made very i'll, or die from eatinS
the leaves. They have even been found
dead with the yew fresh and undigested
In their stomachs. Where poisonous
plants are present in any great numbers
in heritage it seems quite impossible to
prevent cattle from eating themm. The
Of Of a1t
has a particularly bad reputation caused
by plants-one of which is said to be a
species of tu;ip-which comes into leaf
in the spring.
In addition to the poisons mentioned
above. the deaths or Illness OF English
cattle have been traced to eating the
leaves of laurel, common crowfoct, and
various other plants of The Ranunculus
Family, wild parsnips, and aco-ns. which
are very astringent, and also. it is BE-
lieved, to their eating woody nightshace.
The keeping of a goat with cattle may
,ssibly be beneficial because goats eat
choice and with impunity llants which
- injurious to cows.
birds seem TO have no discrimination
hatever in regard TO poisons, probably
ecause they have almost no sense of
nell. and swallow their food without
aasticatirg it. They are terrified to par
llysis by the appearance of a poisonous
snake (Unless the terror be due TO dread
# the appearance of the serpent rather
han to d inherited knowledge of its
enormous power; but such intelligent
,irds as rocks will pick up and eat pois-
ned grain and crows and ravens readily
aat noisoned eggs ard r1eat Chickens
will eat the poisonous seeds of laburnum.
and die from the effects; whistler birds
such as tits and greenfinches ever do 50
does not seem to be known But wild
birds are frequently found dying in gar
decs. though apparently they have been
IN good health a few hours before, and
fieir death may probably be due to the
assumption of poisonous seeds.
There is some reason to think that there
ire narcotic pcisons which at n first
symptom produce great excitement in
.nimais, in the same way that opium
T hemp first exhilarates and then stupe-
es In North America there is a poison
Us grass which, according 10 popular
.eounts. sends the horses mad. They
como greatly excited ana galop 81 fun
sed till exhausted and sometimes death
Z lows.
the account of Col. Mahen's success
: operations against the new Mahif
i IS noted that On the march back 20 the
er a number OF the horses died from
e., ing poisoned grass" on which they
5rowsed at the hating places. \ similar
Instance of the failure OF inst net to de-
&C. danger lurking in vegetable gro7 til