BERIBERI AND COTTONSEED POISONING IN PIGS^ 



[PRELIMINARY NOTEl 



By George M. Rommel, Chief, Animal Husbandry Division, Bureau of Animal In- 

 dustry, and Edward B. VeddeR, Captain, Medical Corps, United States Army 



SO-CALLED COTTONSEED POISONING OF ANIMALS 



Cottonseed meal is one of the most valuable feedstuff s at the command 

 of the American stockman. After the animal has digested it, the value 

 of the residue as fertilizer is about three-fourths the original value of the 

 meal. The United States uses only part of the cottonseed meal which it 

 produces, and one of the reasons which prevent a larger domestic con- 

 sumption of this by-product of the cotton industry is the danger that 

 sickness and death may follow its use. 



Cattle fed for more than 90 to 120 days on a heavy cottonseed-meal 

 ration (6 pounds or more per head daily) become lame, and their eyes 

 discharge freely, blindness often resulting. Deaths may occur, especially 

 in young animals. Pigs are peculiarly susceptible to the effects of cot- 

 tonseed meal, possibly because they are usually fed a larger quantity of 

 the meal in proportion to their body weight. In feeding pigs, symptoms 

 of sickness may appear at any time after three weeks of feeding, and 

 deaths frequently occur with little warning. 



Various systems of feeding cottonseed meal to pigs have been devised. 

 Some of them appear to minimize its danger somewhat, but none of them 

 prevent it entirely. This product, therefore, can not be regarded as a safe 

 feed for pigs in the combinations in which it has heretofore usually been 

 fed. 



Among the more pronounced symptoms observed in pigs suffering from 

 the effects of cottonseed-meal feeding are diarrhea; a harsh, rough, curly 

 coat; paralysis; and shortness of breath. Emaciation and dropsical con- 

 ditions are frequently observed. The disease manifests two forms — 

 acute or chronic. 



The acute form is much more serious to the farmer, because pigs are 

 attacked by it with little warning and may be dead before any indications 

 of disease are noticed. The largest and best nourished pigs are often the 

 ones attacked. The attack is sudden and sharp. The pig experiences 

 extreme shortness of breath and suffers the most intense pain. If he 

 recovers, recurrences of the attack are likely, especially if the pig is a 

 heavy feeder. Subsequent attacks may end fatally, or the disease may 

 assume the chronic form. 



■ This opportunity is taken to express appreciation of the cooperation of Dr. Adolph Eichhorn, Chief 

 of the Pathological Division of the Bureau of Animal Industry, in having made the necessary post- 

 mortem examinations of pigs used in these experiments. 



Journal of Agricultural Research, Vol. V. No. ii 



Dept of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. Dec. 13, 1915 



bq A— 17 



(489) 



