104 



ARSENICAL POISONING. 



Arsenic is usually administered to horses in the form of arsenious or 

 common white arsenic anhydride. Though poisoning by this substance is of 

 less frequent occurrence than it once was, arsenic is still very commonly 

 ■given by labourers and waggoners, and more rarely by grooms, in certain 

 parts of the country. When given in excessive doses, it is generally througli 

 ignorance that this is done ; but instances are recorded of cases in which it 

 has been given with criminal intent. It is usually made up in the form of a 

 ball with soap, tar, or sulphur, or indeed any suitable substance. 

 Sometimes it is administered as a powder in the food or water, and though 

 the proper medicinal dose is but four grains, attendants commonly give as 

 much as will lie upon a sixpenny or shilling piece, or even more. The 

 following accounts will serve to show some of the more important symptoms 

 Tm^post mortem appearances of arsenical poisoning :— 



When summoned one morning, some time ago, at 3 a.m., the late 

 ]\Ir. D. Gresswell found four cart horses in a very dangerous state. They 

 were fine heavy animals in excellent condition, and on the previous day had 

 shown no signs whatever of ill health. Their restlessness had attracted 

 attention about 12 or 1 a.m. They were breathing rapidly, and the pulse 

 was very rapid and almost imperceptible, the arteries, feeling like mere 

 threads. All four animals were in great pain. They got up and down 

 alternately, rolled over and over, and manifested other signs of intense agony. 

 The bowels were very loose, and there was much straining. The extremities 

 were cold, and the eyes were staring ; and there was total loss of appetite, 

 and extreme prostration. Eructations of gas frequently passed from the 

 stomach. One horse died at 10 a.m., a second at 4 p.m., and a third at 

 10-30 p.m. Before death the animals became still more restless, the pulse 

 was weaker and finally imperceptible ; the mouth became clammy and the 

 breath fetid, and they succumbed at length in a state of extreme agony and 

 collapse. One animal recovered, but remained so weak and debilitated as 

 to be incapable of rising without assistance. At length, however, he made a 

 gradual and apparently complete recovery, but was not able to resume work 

 for three or four months. When the stomachs of the animals which had 

 died were examined, they were found to contain undigested food, and the 

 contents were tinged with blood. The membrane lining the stomach was 

 blackened, and in parts the walls were much eroded, forming many large 

 eschars or patches of burnt tissue, and in other places the lining was raised 

 in the' form of small blisters. In one of the cases there were two almost 

 complete perforations through the walls. 



In these cases, although the waggoner denied having administered 

 anything, it was afterwards elicited, that he had given to each of the horses a 

 quantity of the white arsenic, made into balls by mixing it with tar. This he 

 had given at about 8 or 9 p.m. the previous day. 



On the 20th of June, 1883, we had a team of four cart horses belonging 

 10 a farmer, under our care. The symptoms in these cases were similar, but 



