DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY 115 



quarter of the year the writer's whole time was taken up with tliat 

 deiDartiiient's field experiments. 



One hundred and six brands cf fertilizers have been analyzed 

 in the annual fertilizer insi^eclion for the Board of Agriculture, 

 and the results will be issued in a bulletin early next year. 



An unusually large amount of work has been called for by the 

 general public this year, amounting to eighty-nine different sam- 

 ples of a variety of substances. Some of the results of these ex- 

 aminations are published here^ while most of them are of little 

 general interest when considered singly ; but become of use as 

 similar analyses are made from year to year. 



The testing of milch cows for both the Ayrshire and the Hol- 

 stein Breeders' associations has involved considerable time and 

 many analyses. In this work, the department of chemistry has 

 been assisted in the fat determination by the creamery. 



Just before the close of the year, in the latter part of October, 

 an application was received from Newfields, to have the death of 

 a cow investigated. The animal had apparently eaten something 

 in the 2)asture which caused her death in a little over forty-eight 

 hours. Dr. Lamson made an examination of the body and of the 

 pasture the day after the cow died. The post-mortem appear- 

 ance indicated poisoning by an alkaloid like strychnine, and the 

 pasture was found to contain water-hemlock, a plant which con- 

 tains the jioisonous base coniine that produces post-mortem results 

 similar to strychnine. An examination of different organs was 

 carried through with the purpose of determining the presence or 

 absence of coniine. Portions of the contents of the first and third 

 stomachs, a large part of the third stomach, the fourth stomach, 

 contents of fourth stomach and caecum, the kidney, and a large 

 piece of liver were all examined by the usual method. The ])arts 

 of the organs were run through a meat-cutter which very quickly 

 reduced them to a finelv divided condition for extraction. 



Traces of coniine were found in all the extracts ; but nothing 

 more than that. The liver, kidney, and fourth stomach gave 

 characteristic odors both of mice and butyric acid. The other ex- 

 tracts gave faint monse-like odors, but nothing more. No crystals 

 could be separated, neither could any color test or precipitate be 

 produced. 



Nevertheless, taking into account the presence of the water 



