FAEDEL BOUND. 179 



he is seized with violent convulsions, more dangerous to the 

 lives of the persons in the carriage behind him than to his 

 own. It is also the name applied to a condition connected 

 with tumours in the brain ; and the sheep with a parasite in 

 its skull is said to have staggers. Stomach-staggers is a 

 condition peculiar to our domestic animals, and most fre- 

 quently seen in horses and cattle. As the name implies, the 

 nervous symptoms are connected with the state of the 

 stomach; and during certain seasons there is a remarkable 

 prevalence of indigestion, with enormous distention of the 

 gastric cavity, which bring about states of stupor or delirium, 

 alternating in the course of a case, and soon fatally exhaust- 

 ing the animal's powers. 



As affecting cattle, stomach-staggers may be divided into 

 two forms: 1st, The most dangerous due to lead -poisoning, 

 from lead accidentally distributed over pasture land with 

 town manure. 2ndly, The form known as grass-staggers, 

 and which arises from over-distention of the stomach, and 

 particularly with rich grass. 



The distinction between these two very different forms of 

 stomach-staggers in cattle is easy, because the first is peculiar 

 to districts on which the police manure is carted; and the 

 second is usually localised on lands famed for rich produce 

 no less than for the troublesome disorder which, under some 

 circumstances, may much deteriorate the value of several 

 acres on a good farm. 



The late Mr Chiming, veterinary surgeon, Aberdeenshire,* 

 was the first to notice that the refuse of paint, sheet lead 

 from tea chests, and pieces of painted oil-cloth, are deposited 

 on land amongst the town manure. These substances are 

 greedily chewed and devoured by cattle, especially the white 



* See the Veterinarian's Va-de-Mecum, by John Gamgee, page 173. 



