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Milk Sickness and the Mystery of Dr. Anna

Stuff You Missed in History Class

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The History of Milk Sickness

In 1867 a man named William Jerry said that he had discovered the cause of milk sickness after eating a plant that had made him ill, including causing him to tremble violently. As the germ theory of disease became more widely accepted later in the 19th century, some researchers concluded that milk sickness must be caused by a microorganism. But eventually in the 1920s, James F. Couch of the USDA documented the connection between milk sickness and white snake root - isolating toxins from the plant in 1927. In about 1930 couch also found the same toxins in Rayless Goldenrod. The USDA started printing educational materials to inform farmers and ranchers of the dangers of these plants.

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