41 



A chemical examination by Dr. Lindsey of samples of material 

 collected from the mangers, from a pail partly filled with a mixture 

 of bran and salt that had been taken from the mangers, from the 

 ground near the pig-pen and barn door, from a box in a shed near 

 by and from a barrel in the snme shed in which the nitrate of sodium 

 was kept, showed in every sample the presence of large quantities of 

 nitrate of soda but no chloride of sodium. 



A chemical examination of a part of the contents of the stomach 

 failed to reveal a trace of arsenic, lead or other mineral poisons. 



In the Veterinarian for ls76, there are several articles translated 

 from the Archives Veterinaires by Professor Tuson reporting cases 

 similar to this. 



One was that of a horse that had drunk ten and one-half pints of 

 a solution of nitrate of soda containing twentj^-five and three-fourths 

 ounces of the salt. This animal was seen six houi's after taking the 

 soda in solution and it presented many of the symptoms noticed in 

 these cattle. The administration of strong infusions of coffee and 

 alcohol and irritant clysters relieved the animal, and in a few days he 

 completely recovered from the effects of the poisonous salt. 



The second case was that of a five-year-old gelding that had drunk 

 from a pool in which nitrate of soda bags had been washed ; he 

 showed the same symptoms and responded to the same treatment as 

 the animal just mentioned. 



In the third case a four-year-old mare drank ten and one-half 

 pints of a solution of nitrate of soda, containing between seventeen 

 and one-half and twenty-one ounces of the salt. In a few hours she 

 was attacked with violent colic, which wiis relieved by the use of 

 clysters of coffee and alcohol. She made a good recovery. 



In the second article published there are recorded cases of poison- 

 ing among cattle from nitrate of soda. Four bags of nitrate of soda 

 had been placed at equal distances on a grass field and had been 

 allowed to remain there about five hours before being applied. Dur- 

 ing the time some of the salt had become washed from the bags upon 

 the ground by a slight fall of rain. Three days afterward the cows 

 were turned into tlie pasture and obtained the salt by licking it from 

 the ground where the bags had been. They afterward showed symp- 

 toms of poisoning. 



The last case reported in these articles is as follows. " Two hun- 

 dred bags which had contained nitrate of soda were washed in four 



