It may be remarked that in Britain feeding the young shoots off with
sheep, which seem to like the plant, is regarded as the best plan of
reducing Ragwort in grass land. So far there seems to be no record of
injury from this cause.
In South Africa cirrhosis of the liver in cattle (locally termed Molteno
cattle sickness) has been traced to _S. latifolius_, 8 to 10 lb. of
which in daily feeds of 2 to 6 oz. caused death in about six weeks.
Another species, _S. Burchellii_, is similarly poisonous, ½ lb. daily
for four days having killed an ox on the fifth day; at Molteno half the
quantity proved fatal. Both species are fatal to cattle and horses.
_Toxic Principle._ As regards _S. Jacobœa_ nothing appears to be known
as to any toxic principles, though an alkaloid has been isolated by Watt
(1911), but not fully described. The South African _S. latifolius_,
however, was examined at the Imperial Institute, and two new crystalline
alkaloids were isolated—_Senecifoline_ (C_{18}H_{27}O_{8}N) and
_Senecifolidine_ (C_{18}H_{25}O_{7}N)—1·20 per cent. being present in
the plant before flowering and 0·49 per cent. after flowering.
_Symptoms._ As they may to some extent serve as a guide in relation to
possible Ragwort poisoning in Britain the symptoms observed from
poisoning by the South African species may be given: Severe and strained
purging: fæces yellowish to dark brown; cows cease to give milk;
abdominal pain, groaning; animal may go mad and charge anyone
approaching, or lie with outstretched head, drooping ears, staring coat,
and dull glaring eyes; death usual within three days from commencement
of purging. The post-mortem shows an inflamed fourth stomach; hardened
condition of the liver, often dull grey with spots in the interior;
expanded gall bladder, with dull yellow viscid bile.
REFERENCES.
43, 128, 195, 260.
=Wild Lettuce= (_Lactuca_ sp.). Just how far the two species _L.
scariola_ L. and _L. virosa_ L. are really poisonous is not clearly
known, and it is probable that to be seriously harmful to farm live
stock they would need to be ingested in considerable quantity, and this
they never seem to be. They are certainly not actively poisonous, though
Bailey and Gordon say that “we have been informed that this European
plant—now a national pest—is sometimes eaten by cattle, on whom it has
been observed to have had an injurious effect.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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