558 Journal of the Department op Agriculture. 



tenipeiatuie, siift gait, and, after a few days, a rougdi .sciiify condi- 

 tion of the skin alonj^' tlie back and over I lie loins, sliowing that the 

 continuous action of the dij) has scalded tJie skin. Cattle with these 

 lesions should not be dipped again until the skin has healed. There 

 are two factors whicli help to jnoduce this action of arsenic during' 

 (lamp weathei-; one is dirty dip and the other long coats, and when 

 lioth are combined the action is still more severe. The time of year 

 when this usually happens is early spring, before the winter coats 

 are shed. It is a common sight to see cattle, when dry again after 

 passing through a dirty tank, plastered with filth, and when the hair 

 is long much more is retained. Tanks should be kept as clean as 

 possible, and hair and other floating nmterial skimmed off the dip; 

 it is a good plan to use a tank dredger. AVith valuable cattle it is 

 advisable to brush off with a dandy-brush any dirt which has settled 

 on the back. 



(?i) Working' during the heat of the day oxen Avhich are being- 

 regularly dipped in full strength solution every Ave or seven days, 

 and continuing' to work them after they show signs of distress. — 

 The only remedy tor this, if it is essential that the working oxen 

 should be dipped as regularly as other cattle on the farm, is to work 

 them as much as possible during the cooler parts of the day and to 

 outspan as soon as they become distressed. Unfortunately, native 

 drivers are often not sufficiently careful in this respect, with the 

 result that it has become no uncommon thing- to hear of an ox droj)- 

 ping- dead in the yoke, probably from heat apoplexy, undoubtedly 

 agg-ravated by the action of arsenic on the skin, which appears to 

 interfere with the normal cutaneous respiration. 



(Jther cattle, especially fat cows, also become distressed during 

 very hot weather, and are anxious to obtain shelter from the sun, and 

 such shelter should, where possible, be provided, 



(4) Leaving- dipping solutions exposed to the access of stock. — 

 This is by far the most frequent source whereby stock become poisoned 

 with arsenic. I have in numerous instances been called to investigate 

 what have been looked upon as mysterious deaths amongst stock, 

 l)articularly cattle, and almost invariably the owner, when told the 

 post-mortem appearances were those of arsenical poisoning, assured 

 me it was ([uite impossible for the animals to have got at any arsenic; 

 hut when 1 have visited the tank the source from which the arsenic 

 has been obtained is obvious. Probably the concrete sump outside 

 the diaining-pen is full of dip, or rain-water which has washed the 

 floor of the draining-pen and mixed Avith the dip. This could not 

 very well be completely removed from the sump, and, being left open, 

 was of free access to stock. Some stockowners, too, are very careless 

 in the disposal of the dip and refuse when cleaning out their tanks. 

 I have found it thrown just alongside the tank, Avheie cattle could 

 lick it, and where rain-water could wash over it and form pools on 

 the lower side, which would be full of arsenic, M'hilst nothing is done 

 to prevent stock getting to this material. Sometimes the draining- 

 pens are not properly drained, with, the result that they have pools 

 of rain-water, saturated with arsenic, which cattle are quite likely to 

 drink. Some tanks ha\e no sides to them, consequently the splash, 

 during dipping operations, saturates the ground outside the tank. I 

 have also known cattle actuallv to walk down the race and drink the 

 dip. 



