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THE FARMERS' REGISTER 



evidently poisoned by bacon. Their symptoms, 

 with the addition of delirium and iosa of" recollec- 

 tion, were the same with those resulting Crom the 

 sausage poison. A remarkable circumsiance in 

 this history is, that the lather escaped unhurt, 

 " having stewed his bacon, while the rest aie it 

 raw.'' It is supposed, that the process of stew- 

 ing dissipated or decomposed the fatty acid, so as 

 to render it harmless. 



In ihe London Medical Gazette, vol. 19, 378, 

 we have the case of a fiimily poisoned tiy bacon, 

 or rather, several members ol' ihe Tamiiy. All 

 who partook of the meat were sickened, ami one 

 of the children died, after severe gastric and in- 

 testinal distress, which continued lor more than 

 three weeks. Severe spasms and violent retch- 

 ing with dreadiiil headache were the atieiidani 

 symptoms. Post mortem examination revealed 

 extensive gastric ulceration. 



The difficulty of deciding, satisfactorily, as to 

 the true source of poisoning, in animal matters, 

 has been alluded to. We may remark, further, 

 that many families have been sickened and some 

 persons fatally poisoned, by eaunij the meat, va- 

 riously cooked, of animals that had sickened and 

 died. The symptoms in these cases, are those 

 of irritant poisoning, such as gastric pains, vomit- 

 ing, severe colic, diarrhoea, &c., &c. In all these 

 cases, it is quite probable, that the fatty matter 

 of the animal experiences a change such as oc- 

 curs in the German sausages, though this is only 

 a conjecture. It would seem that the proper 

 course of treatment would be to dislodge the 

 meat from the stomach, and then to allay the irrita- 

 tion, by means of anodynes and rubefacients, 

 blisters, &c., to the epigastric region. 



The fa'ial poisoning from a wound inflicted by 

 the dissecting knife, is too well known to require 

 any detailed notice here. That such wounds are 

 not always injurious is certain ; and we are at li- 

 berty to suppose, that when they do prove alarm- 

 ing and fatal, it is in consequence of the change 

 already named, in the fatty menter of the dead 

 body. 



In view of all the facts above stated, in refer- 

 ence to the poisoaous agency of animal matters, 

 may we not very ration illy extend our luture re- 

 searches in the fbllow%ng queries, in the hope of 

 reaching the truth at las.i 7 



Isf. Is it not probable, vhat the fatal effects at- 

 tending the use of the mea-^ milk, butter, cheese 

 &c. of cows, as well as of the flesh of other 

 animals, may depend on the nox"nus influence of 

 many articles in the vegetable kingiom? 



2d. Is it not probable, that sowie ctxaes of milk- 

 sickness, as well as thedisaslrous train of symptoms 

 that follow the use of various animal matters, as 

 articles of food, may be lairly ascribed (conform- 

 ably to Orfila's suggestion) to neio principles 

 formed or developed in the living animal, bxj a vital 

 process, and wholly independent of the pernicious 

 agency of any vegetable matter? 



Perhaps some of your readers may think there 

 is no sort of relation between the several tacts con- 

 tained in this article. On this point I beg to dif- 

 fer ; and hoping that some good may result from 

 their perusal, 1 submit them to the intelligence 

 and good sense of all candid inquirers. 



AN ESSAY ON THE MAKING, THE PRESERVING 

 AND THE APPLYING OF MANURES. 



For tlie Farmers' Register. 



This subject, as the caption indicates, is divided 

 into three pans; 1st, the making; 2d, the pre- 

 serving, and 3d, the applying of manures ; and I 

 shall treat the subject according to the above divi- 

 sion. And liere it is obvious to remark, that this 

 subject is to the fdrmer one of primary importance; 

 (or in this section of country our lands are natu- 

 rally very poor, or by long cultivation have be- 

 come completely exhausted. It is there.'bre a 

 question of the gravest importance, how we can 

 most economically, and at the same time most cer- 

 tainly, impart that lt;rtiliiy to our lands, which will 

 make them capable of producing large and profi- 

 table crops. 



This subject, at this time, derives an additional 

 importance from the fact that, owing to the ex- 

 ceedingly deranged state of our currency, the high 

 rate of exchange to which we have to submit, 

 the consequent depressed state of the market, and 

 the extravagant and constantly increasing taxa- 

 tion which is imposed upon us, for the support of 

 legislation — our salvation, and indeed our very 

 solvency as fiarmers, depends upon the large 

 amount of produce we can throw into the market. 

 The lime has been, as many of us well recollect, 

 vvhen a barrel of corn would bring ^10, or a 

 bushel of wheal ^2.50, or a hoi^shead of tobacco 

 would bring ^250, and in some instances a still 

 higher rate. Now, although I am no advocate 

 for inflated prices each as these, yet it is obvious 

 that a reaction has taken place, which has pro- 

 duced a state of depression still more injurious; 

 for if the fiirmer can noio get one third, or evea 

 one fourth as much for the same articles, he con- 

 siders himself as liaving made a good sale. Our 

 farmers are at present in this strange situation, a 

 situation which operates with peculiar oppression 

 upon them, that whilst their expenses with the 

 blacksmith, with the shoemaker and grocer, and 

 for labor, generally remain the same, and in some 

 instances are even enhanced, nearly or quite all 

 the products of his farm are at a slow sale, and 

 at greatly depressed prices. The only remedy in 

 this case is greatly to increase the amount of dis- 

 posable products. Instead of one hogshead of 

 tobacco, or 07ie barrel of corn, or one bushel of 

 wheat, we must have at least three; and even 

 then our net income, compared with former times, 

 will be greatly curtailed. 



And now the question is, how are we to secure 

 this greatly increased product? It is evident that 

 our lands, in their present poor and exhausted 

 state, cannot supply it. The only alternative then 

 is to enrich the lands, if we would increase their 

 product. And here I will remark, that bad as the 

 times are, I have no idea of " giving up the ship," 

 for I do know, from actual experiment, that by a 

 judicious course of manuring and cultivation, it is 

 practicableto increase the product ofourlandssorae 

 three or even four-fold. Of all mothers. Mother 

 Earih is the most generous ; the more liberal we 

 are to her, the more liberal she will be to us. 



Having made these preliminary remarks, 1 pro- 

 ceed at once to the first branch of my subject — 

 the beat method of making manures. And here 

 I intend to confine myself to the actual circum- 

 stances of that section of country in which the 



