180 LEAD-POISONING. 



paint or sweet carbonate of lead, of which considerable quan- 

 tities may be found in the stomachs of animals that have 

 died from the disease under consideration. 



The farmer should be made aware that though lead may 

 be the source of the disease, it is not easy to discover whence 

 the poison has been derived. Occasionally laying down a 

 row of pipes to convey water some distance may cause the 

 distribution of white lead, which plumbers use extensively; 

 and many instances have occurred in which tenant farmers 

 have claimed damages from landed proprietors for deaths 

 amongst stock from this cause. Recently a case occurred in 

 which the working of a coalpit ceased, and a quantity of 

 debris was left scattered about, amongst which ropes and 

 other substances thickly smeared with white lead were found, 

 Some cows, with the morbid appetite often observed amongst 

 these animals, were poisoned, and died, rendering the owner 

 of the pit liable in damages for not enclosing the deserted 

 and exposed works. 



A very important circumstance, which has often led to 

 doubt as to the real cause of a general attack of staggers, 

 though analysis proved it to be due to lead, is, that after the 

 police manure has been driven on the land, there may be 

 several crops in rotation before animals are allowed to graze 

 on it; or, by the process of working the land, a quantity of 

 lead formerly deposited on the surface, but afterwards buried 

 from the common operations on the farm, may be dug up 

 again, and, washed by rain, it constitutes a sweet but 

 deadly morsel for the cattle. Indeed, we have found that, 

 scattered over extensive districts, where at one time or other 

 much poison may have been deposited with manures, certain 

 fields are reputed dangerous to cattle. It is certainly true 

 that these dangerous fields have not been made the subjects 

 of any careful inquiry, though they offer many very interest- 



