In the _horse_ symptoms substantially similar to the above have been recorded (Lander).
In _cows_, Pott records hæmaturia, and reddish or bitter milk.
_Sheep_ after eating _R. repens_ have been noticed to fall suddenly in the field; their eyes rolled, and some animals showed dizziness, and died with the head inclined over the left flank (Lander).
47, 63, 81, 112, 130, 140, 145, 170, 203, 204, 205, 213, 233, 235.
=Marsh Marigold= or =King-Cup= (_Caltha palustris_ L.). Like the species of _Ranunculus_, the Marsh Marigold is to some extent poisonous in character, and both animals and man have suffered. Cattle have died from eating it, and Müller records the poisoning of many horses, one of which died. In general, animals refuse it, but may possibly eat it when pressed with hunger in times of scarcity of green herbage. Cornevin states that it has little or no acrid properties when very young, but that it is toxic by the time of flowering—acridity increasing with age.
_Toxic Principle._ The toxic character of the Marsh Marigold has not been fully investigated, though the presence of an alkaloid has been determined, and A. B. Smith states that the toxic properties are due to the alkaloid _Jervine_ (C_{ 26}H_{ 37}O_{ 3}N2H_{ 2}O) and the glucoside _Helleborin_ (C_{ 36}H_{ 42}O_{ 6}). On drying—_e.g._ in hay—the plant becomes harmless, as in the case of most species of _Ranunculus_.
_Symptoms._ Cornevin records that _cattle_ have died from inflammation of the digestive tract, and gives the symptoms as those of _Ranunculus_ poisoning. There seem to be digestive troubles, diarrhœa, and loss of milk production, even (according to Rusby) when fed with hay. In the _horse_, there is colic, bloating, and inflammation of the bladder, while the urine is dark red. According to Cornevin, the symptoms are similar to those produced by _Ranunculus_ sp. Pammel quotes Friedberger and Fröhner as stating that the plant causes hæmaturia. Five persons who ate it as a herb were “seized with violent sickness and pain in the abdomen, followed by diarrhœa and general œdematous swelling over the whole body,” but they recovered (Johnson and Sowerby).
=Hellebores= (_Helleborus_ sp.). Two poisonous species of hellebore may on occasion be taken by live stock, though rarely—Stinking Hellebore (_H. fœtidus_ L.) and Green Hellebore (_H. viridis_ L.). The much esteemed Christmas Rose (_H. niger_) is also toxic, but unlikely to be eaten by stock. In no case should trimmings of these plants from shrubberies, etc., be thrown to stock—cows have died from eating such trimmings. The two species first mentioned are equally toxic, all parts are poisonous, and drying does not render them innocuous. Cornevin records that animals have been killed by _H. fœtidus_, and says that 9½ oz. of the fresh root or 2½ oz. of the dried root are poisonous doses to the horse, while 120 to 150 grains are fatal to sheep. It was recorded in 1847 (_Veterinarian_) by Mayer that a horse was fatally poisoned through eating five half-pints of the chopped-up leaves of this species in two days in a bran mash. In regard to this species also Johnson and Sowerby write: “The Bear’s-Foot has been used as a vermifuge ever since the days of Hippocrates, notwithstanding its dangerous qualities. Every part of the plant is a violent cathartic, but far too uncertain in the degree of its action to be safely administered.”