Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-11-05
STUDY OF LOCO WEED
Expert Work in Department
Of Agriculture.
EXPER IMEN rs MAJ
SPECIES OF PLANT SUBJECTED TO
ANALYSIS.
Losses Sustained by Western Rang
ers Through Disease Produced
Among Sheep and Cattle.

Among Sheep and Cattle.
Experts in botany connected with the De-
| pertinent of Agriculture are making an ex-
| tensiye study of the loco weed to ascertain
which particular element in 1t Is injurious
| to cattle. The experiments are being made
as a result of the losses sustained by west
ern rangers through the peculiar disease
produced by the plant on Their cattle.
Whole herds of sheep are known to have
become locoed by eating the weed. and the
resultant loss to the raisers has been ex
tremely heavy.
The experiments are unusual and interest
ing. large supply of the different species
of the plant has been sent to the depart
ment from the states in which it is found,
principally Montana, and is undergoing a
chemical analysis in the laboratories of the
| botanical division One form of the expert
mentS is the tests made live animals.
| The poison is extracted from the weed and
fed to a rabbit The effect is similar to
that of intoxicantS on human beings. For
the next several hours the rabbit finds itself
Oh a glorious spree, and its antics are like
those of a drunken man. Unable to keep
its balance, and seeing double, the rabbit
finally colapses completely and falls into
| a stupor, from which it awakes, maybe,
with awful headache.
Photographed While Under Influence.
So amusing have the antics of some of
the animals been that photographs have
been taken of them while they were under
the influence of the stimulant. One of
these pictures shows locoed rabbit which
had been permitted to go on a particularly
strenuous jag. The snap shot shows him
lying on his back with his feet stuck up
in the air. On his face is a foolish grin.
His half-closed eyes are bleared. His fur
is ruffled and muSsed. His mouth Is half
open, giving him the appearance of an in
ebriated who is trying to tell story,
but can't quite make it seem to have any
sense. Altogether the photograph gives the
impression of too much booze.
In addition to these tests the department
is making experiments at stations in various
parts of the west. In fact, the latter eX-
periments have been in progress for several
years. and the innovation les in the intro
duction of the work in the local labora-
tories. The experiments carried on here
are. however entirely different from those
made in the west. The latter consist main
ly of observations made on various cattle
ranches of the effect of the weed on ami
mails.
Exact Cause in Doubt.
The loco disease has been generally known
for many years but in spite of uncea sing in
vestigation, it's cause has never been exact
Iy disclosed Even now there is some skepti-
cisrr as to whether it is attributable to the
so-called loco weed or to some other source
A number of raisers believe the disease may
he produced in sheep by their eating large
quantities of alkali SOIL On the other hand.
many of the cattIemen hold that sheep
less apt to become locoed when regularly
sailed than when they eat large quantities
of alkali, while the large majority are of
the opinion that there is no connection be-
tween loco and alkal.
Experts in botany believe that the most
reliable observations of the disease lndi-
cate that it is the result of the animals
consuming certain weeds. The disease as
sumes either an active or chronic form. In
the active form the animal lives only
few days. while in the chronic form it may
live for two three years and manifest
the same symptoms in milder degree.
1t has been found that horses and sheep are
the animals which are most frequently az
fected by the disease Cattle occasionally
acquire the habit, but the cases are COM
paratively rare. In certain parts of Mon
tana the habit became so widespread some
time ago among horses that the raising of
them was abandoned until the locoed anil
mails We're disposed of and other horses
which hadn't acquired the habit were i'm
ported.
Experiment at Western Station.
An interesting experiment was made at
one of the western stations some time ago.
An acute case OF loco disease was OBJ
served in a wo-year-old eve with a lamb
al her side. She was first seen eating large
quantities of white loco weed at 10 o'clock
in the morning and about 7:30 in the even
ing, when the herder started the band for
the corral. she was unmanageable and the
lamb was sick. An examination Of the eve
at this time showed that she was complete
ly blind. A slight motor ataxia was mani
fest. The crazed animal walked around in
long circles to the right, the neck being
curved in that direction. Whenever she
1, -D1;n ,l,n
against it until exhausted, and then re-
manned standing for few moments in a
sort of stupor. After manifesting these pc
culiar symptoms for four days the animal
died
Other experiments on the subjects indi-
cate that sheep and horses Iocoed frequent
ly mistake harmless things for dangerous
enemies. locoed horse upon being driven
UP to a gate, may either attempt to jump
over the Crossbar at a height of fifteen
feet, or may lower his head from fear of
striking 1t. Their sense of hearing is also
often affected. The response to sounds and
noises is not always in accordance with
the character or volume of the noise. At
times loud noise is unheeded. while at
other times a slight noise of the same char
acter may produce fright
Substance of Reports.
Reports on the subject received in Wash
ington indicate that It is the universal ex-
perience of sheep raisers that Iocoed sheep
are exceedingly difficult TO herd. The
sheep may, without a moments warning,
stray away from the band, each one in a
different direction and rangers find 1t al
most impossible TO prevent such band
from becoming separated Besides giving
herders this trouble. locoed sheep often re-
fuse TO enter the corral at night and under
any circumstances may suddenly manifest
perplexing stubbornness.
1t is to find a remedy for this strange
disease that the experiments are being car
ried on at the Department of Agriculture.
No specific remedy has been discovered so
far. The only treatment cattle raisers have
found available is the feeding OF the locoed
animals with nutritious diet. II Is gem
orally conceded by persons interested In
the raising OF cattle that the loco disease
Is nothing more than habit similar to
habits which exist among human kind To
find a cure 1t would probably be neces-
sary to discover something which would