12 XEW IXVESTIGATIONS ON RICKETS AND MAC'HOZAinA. 



its 1-atious well and showed no difficulty at all in chewinj^ and 

 swallowing the rough material. After the third day it lost the 

 appetite completely and would not eat any more Macrozamia. 

 It ate the pure lucerne for another day and then stopped bating 

 altogether. It died on the fifth day and the post-mortem 

 ■examination conducted by me and the very obliging and able 

 caretaker, ]\Ir. IJeck, revealed only the symptoms of (xastroen- 

 teritis. During the lifetime of the calf no distinctly pronouiced 

 symptoms of the wobbles were observed. 



The second calf declined to eat Macrozamia on the fifth 

 day, and lived on lucerne the next two days. Then it would not 

 eat more and staggered, but perhaps only from weaknees as it 

 died on the tenth day. The post-mortem showed the whole 

 stomach inflamed, red and softened inside. 



The third calf got only six pounds of Macrozamia per day 

 which it ate for six days. Then it was turned out in the yard as 

 it would eat no longer. It eat then of the green pasturage, 

 walked slowly but with no pronounced symptoms of the wobbles 

 .and was found deid in the yard on the tenth day, showing the 

 gastroenteritic alterations in the alimentary canal like the other 

 two calves, but no signs of spinal ^Meningitis. 



The chief results of the the work done by me can be sum- 

 marised as follows : — 



1. There is no doubt of the ]\Iacrozamia being highly 



poisonous, at least at certain times of the year. 



2. The wobbles are not produced directly by the Macro- 



zamia poison as no spinal Meningitis Avith effusion was 

 produced by my experiments. 



3. Taking into consideration the high disposition of cattle 



for idiopathic spinal Meningitis, the lesions of the 

 alimentary canal produced by the irritant Macrozamia 

 poison might through inanition lead to the form of 

 spinal meningitis known as wobbles. 



Two cardinal points have still to be elucidated, namely the 

 ■questions : — 



