184 VETEEINAEY HYGIENE 



also cause poisoning, but the cause is unknown. It appears 

 to be limited to the second growth. Davy* refers to it 

 and tells us Sorghum vidgare (KafSr Corn) is capable of 

 doing the same thing. A poisonous enzyme is probably 

 the cause. Chesnut suggests it may be in the blossom 

 that the poison resides, as in the Guinea Corn of Bar- 

 badoes. 



Boucher! describes both the grain and straw of buck- 

 wheat as dangerous, he says it produces symptoms resem- 

 bling Darnel poisoning, and causes swelling of the head. 

 In England buckwheat has been blamed for affecting the 

 eyes. The same author draws attention to the effect 

 produced on milk by the leaves of the Boxwood and Spruce 

 laurel, which he says are not poisonous but impart an 

 abominable taste to the milk. The leaves of the Walnut 

 and Buckthorn he states arrest the secretion of milk, 

 while those of the Beech, Ash, Hazel, and other trees, 

 produce constipation and hsemoglobinuria. 



The fruit of the oak and beech trees are blamed for pro- 

 ducing hsBmo-albuminuria and impaction of the third 

 stomach in cattle, while the young shoots of resinous trees, 

 as well as the acrid ranunculus and colchicum, are believed 

 to produce ' Moor-ill.' 



Boucher describes the peculiar disease resulting from 

 feeding cattle on the pulp of Beetroot after sugar extraction. 

 He speaks of it as the Put]) Disease, and describes it as due 

 to a fungus growing on the fermentable mass ; it causes 

 intestinal irritation, diarrhoea, and death. He also 

 mentions the eczema, known as Pidp Eczema, due to feed- 

 ing cattle on potato pulp, after the extraction of the starch. 

 He describes skin eruption, tympany, abortion, and 

 paralysis as following the excessive use of Distillers' 

 grains. 



South Africa has a bad reputation for poisonous plants, 

 but beyond ' Tulp ' very little is known of them. Davy 



* ' Cattle Poisons of the Transvaal,' J. B. Davy, F.L.S., Transvaal 

 Agricultural Journal, No. 5, vol. ii. 

 t Hygiene des Animaux Domestique. 



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