Barium: A Cause of the Loco-Weed Disease — John Shaqi
Barium: A Cause of the Loco-Weed DiseaseCrawford, Albert C. (Albert Cornelius)
Science
Barium: A Cause of the Loco-Weed Disease
Crawford, Albert C. (Albert Cornelius)
Astragalus earlei; Barium
_Experiment No. 14._--On March 1, 1906, a black rabbit weighing 2,721.6
grams was fed at 12.15 p.m. with a concentrated aqueous extract of 250
grams of the fresh _Astragalus mollissimus_ collected in September,
1905. On March 2 it weighed 2,438 grams; at 2.58 p.m. it still resisted
efforts to turn it on its back; at 3.15 p.m. it could be turned on its
back with ease. March 6 the weight was 2,338.8 grams; March 7 the
animal was very dull, would not eat, pupils dilated, hind legs
paralyzed; died during the night; weight, 2,267.9 grams.
The stomach walls were pale save at the dependent portion near the
cardiac end, where there was a hemorrhagic, ulcerated area about 1-1/2
by 1-1/2 inches. The intestines were full of gas, but not hemorrhagic.
The uterus contained eight immature foeti. The uterine walls were
hemorrhagic. The kidneys weighed 9-1/2 grams; their medullæ were dark
and the straight tubules well defined. The cerebral dural vessels were
congested and the spinal dural vessels were well defined. The bladder
was found contracted. The blood gave no bands for methæmoglobin, but
showed merely those of oxyhæmoglobin on spectroscopic examination.
_Experiment No. 15._--Control experiments made by feeding water were
negative, except when a large quantity (150 c.c.) of water was given to
a rabbit weighing 1,020.5 grams. The animal died in 12 hours with marked
pallor of the tissues (hydræmia), a pathological condition quite
different from that obtained by feeding extracts of the loco plants, and
no such results were secured with the amount of water used in our
feeding experiments, 50 to 70 c.c.
=SUBCUTANEOUS INJECTIONS.=
_Experiment No. 16._--On February 28, 1906, a white rabbit weighing
581.2 grams was injected subcutaneously at 10.35 a.m. with a
concentrated aqueous extract of 83 grams of fresh _Astragalus
mollissimus_ collected in September, 1905, and preserved with
chloroform. The temperature before injection was 102.1°F. At 1.40 p.m.
the animal was dull; at 3.12 p.m. the temperature registered 99.8°F.
The animal died during the night. The post-mortem examination was
negative. Stomach pale; heart relaxed save left ventricle, which seemed
contracted; dural vessels of the brain dilated; kidneys perhaps normal.
No microscopical examination.
_Experiment No. 17._--February 28, 1906, at 10.25 a.m., a guinea pig
weighing 496 grams was injected subcutaneously with a concentrated
aqueous extract of 83 grams of the fresh _Astragalus mollissimus_
preserved in chloroform water. At 1.40 p.m. there was muscular
twitching. The animal was dull and could be easily turned on his back.
The hind legs began to show weakness. At 1.50 p.m. the hind legs were
almost completely paralyzed and the animal could be easily turned on his
back. Muscles of the limbs twitched and semen was expelled. Animal died
at 2.15 p.m.
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