Read it through once

"Mr. Robert Russell, of St. Ann's, informs me that horses feeding on the leaves of this plant completely lose the hair from their manes and tails. This ... statement was supported by the testimony of so many people acquainted with the facts that there was no reason to doubt it. Many years afterwards (in December, 1895), I renewed my acquaintance with the plant in the Bahamas. The plant was much more plentiful there than in Jamaica; it was, in fact, distinctly encouraged in the former islands as a fodder plant. The people were fully aware of the singular effect it produced on horses, and added that it also affected mules and donkeys. Its effect on pigs was still more marked. These animals assumed a completely naked condition, and appeared without a single hair on their body. Horses badly affected by Jumbai were occasionally seen in the streets of Nassau, where they were known as 'cigar-tails.' Such depilated animals, although apparently healthy, were considerably depreciated in value. They were said to recover when fed exclusively on corn and grass. The new hair was, however, of a different colour and texture, 'so the animals were never quite the same.' One animal was cited as having lost its hoofs as well, and in consequence it had to be kept in slings until they grew again and hardened. The effects of the Jumbai on horses, mules, donkeys, and pigs were regarded as accidental--due to neglect or ignorance. The plant was really encouraged to supply food for cattle, sheep, and goats. The latter greedily devoured it and were not perceptibly affected by it. It will be noticed that the animals affected were non-ruminants, while those not affected were ruminants. The probable explanation is that the ruminants, by thoroughly mixing the food with saliva and slowly digesting it, were enabled to neutralize the action of the poison and escape injury. The seeds probably contain the deleterious principle in a greater degree than any other part of the plant. It was a common experience that animals introduced from other localities suffered more than the native animals. The latter were either immune or had learnt to avoid the plant as noxious to them."