JAMAICA. 



BULLETIN 



OF THE 



BOTANICAL DEPARTMENT, 



New Series.] MAY, 1894. 



CALABASH AND ABORTION IN CATTLE. 



The publication of the following correspondence may induce those 

 who take an interest in the subject to continue enquiries. There seems 

 to be considerable doubt about calabash being the cause. It is quite 

 possible that the true cause may be the presence of an ergot on the 

 flowers of the grasses. The ergot of the pharmacopcea is a fungoid 

 bod}', which is parasitic on common rye, but it also attacks wheat, 

 barley and a number of other grasses. A grain of rye attacked by 

 the fungus has its tissues destroyed, and is converted into a hard ob- 

 long body \-\\ inches long, of a purplish colour outside, white inter- 

 nally, but the size varies with the grass, and is generally smaller. 



Mr. 6. A. T. Fursdon to Director of Public Gardens and Plantations. 



I have lost some twenty calves this year through abortion, and have 

 been unable to discover the cause, which I expect is some plant that 

 the cows eat in the pastures. An old man now tells me that it is the 

 common calabash (Crescentia Cujete), which I see in your list of 

 Economic Plants you state is a purgative. 



Can you tell me if this tree has been known to be eaten with the 

 above effect, as if so I shall certainly have all here destroyed, or is 

 there any other tree or plant known to produce abortion in stock. 



Director to C. A. T. Fursdon, Esq. 



" The only reference I can find to your question is in Barham's 

 Hortus Americanus, who says : — " It is said that the pulp, if eaten, 

 will make a cow cast her calf, or a mare her colt. It is certainly 

 known (if not too well known) to be a great forcer of the menttrua 

 and of the birth and after-birth, therefore ought to be very cautiously 

 given or taken." This refers to the common calabash. 



I will make enquiries and see if anything is generally known of 

 this property, but it certainly seems advisable to cut down all the 

 calabash trees in your pastures." 



Vol. I. 

 Part 5. 



