CRYPTOGAMIC POISONING IN SWINE. 



Spoiled foods. Toxic rye. Botulism. Brine poisoning. Flesh of over- 

 driven (leucomaines). Symptoms : from mouldy bread, brain disorder, 

 gastric, urinary, haematic : from brine, restlessness, convulsions, eructa- 

 tions, vomiting, weakness, paresis. Lesions : congestion of stomach, 

 bowels and mesenteric glands ; with brine, heart and skin charged with 

 black blood, congestion of brain, kidneys and bladder. Petechiae. Treat- 

 ment : empty stomach, emetics, purgatives, potassium iodide, antiferments, 

 sedatives, cold to head, enemata, counterirritants. Prevention. 



Causes. Spoiled foods of all kinds such as mouldy bread, 

 musty meal, spoiled grains of all kinds, or rotten potatoes, or 

 apples are common causes of poisoning. In specimens of toxic 

 rye Woronin found four fungi : — fusarium roseum, gilberella 

 Sanbinetti, belminthosporium, and cladosporium herba- 

 rum. Prilleux and Delacroix have obtained a fifth, endoco- 

 nidium temulentum. Rye so affected produced nervous dis- 

 order in swine, dogs, birds and even in man. Pigs often die 

 from botulism, being fed flesh in a more or less advanced .stage 

 of putrefaction. Old meat brine is also a source of toxin and 

 ptomaine poisoning since its toxic property increa.ses with age 

 which is not the case with a mere solution of common salt. Yet 

 this is very deadly to the pig, a half a pint often proving fatal. 

 Kuhnert records that the fiesh of an overdriven horse proved 

 fatal to the pigs that ate it. 



Symptoms. From mouldy bread the pig becomes dull, stupid, 

 sluggish, .stiff, stilty and .staggering in his gait, and usually 

 costive. There are usually signs of colicy pains, inappetence, 

 frothy lips, champing of the jaws, yawning, retching and vomit- 

 ing. The mucosae become yellow and the urine red and albu- 

 minous. 



The .symptoms cau.sed by old brine are more violent. There 

 are dullness, prostration, and inclination to lie, but at short inter- 

 vals the animal gets up and wanders round, moving stiffly, is 

 seized b}^ tremors and finally convulsions, in which he falls to 

 the ground, dashes his head from side to side, champs his teeth, 

 rolls his eyes and froths at the mouth. There are usually eruc- 

 tations and often vomiting which does not, however, give the 



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