INTRODUCTION. 



By 



A. M. PETER, Acting Director. 



The disease of live stock referred to in this bulletin as forage 

 poisoning, sometimes called * ' cerebro-spinal meningitis," "cere- 

 britis," "staggers," "corn stalk disease," "blind staggers," 

 et cetera, has long been known in the United States. It has 

 caused heavy losses to the country, more particularly in horses 

 and mules, but also in beef cattle and dairy cows. 



Many theories have been proposed regarding the cause of 

 the disease, one of the most plausible being that it is produced 

 by molds or their poisonous growth-products generated in the 

 feed. Extensive experiments in feeding molds to animals, by 

 different investigators, however, have given only negative results. 



Numerous sporadic outbreaks occurring in Kentucky within 

 the last four years have afforded opportunity for study of the 

 disease and investigation of its etiology. The experiments herein 

 described confirm the analogy suggested by the late Dr. Leonard 

 Pearson, of the University of Pennsylvania, between clinical 

 forage poisoning in animals and meat poisoning in man. The 

 paper deals with the isolation of a pathogenic anaerobic bacillus 

 from an oat hay and the efficacy of an antiserum, prepared 

 against B. botulinus, in protecting animals against a disease 

 having the characteristics of forage poisoning. 



This bulletin is the eighth paper on the disease emanating 

 from the Laboratory of Animal Pathology of this Station, and 

 the fifth in a series entitled ' ' Studies in Forage Poisoning. ' ' 



Those which have already appeared are the following : 



"Forage poisoning or so-called cerebro-spinal meningitis in horses, 

 cattle and mules," Bulletin No. 167, Kentucky Agricultural Experi- 

 ment Station, September, 1912. 



(49) 



