igo6.] Poisoning of Cattle by "Java" Beans. 743 



gestion was made that the poisoning might possibly be due to 

 the meal being made from the beans of Phaseolus lunatus, the 

 poisonous properties of which had been investigated at the 

 Imperial Institute in 1902 and 1903,* and had formed the sub- 

 ject of a short note in this Journal in December, 1902 (Vol. IX., 

 P- 373)- On analysis this was found to be the case, the presence 

 in the meal of a glucoside yielding hydrocyanic acid being 

 ascertained. 



The Board instructed one of their inspectors to investigate 

 the matter, and from his report it appears that no less than 

 seven cases occurred in Scotland and one in England in which 

 death or illness among cattle has been attributed to the 

 poisonous properties of the beans in question, known in this 

 case as " Java " beans. The serious losses which have been 

 incurred by the farmers and dairymen affected may be gathered 

 from the following notes : — Case A : Bean meal given to thirteen 

 cows, with the result that two died and several others were 

 alleged to be suffering from the effects a month later. Case B : 

 Two cows ate the bean meal and both died. Case C: Thirty- 

 two cows were fed with the meal in this instance and twenty- 

 six of them died. In this case about 3J lb. of the meal were given 

 to each cow and symptoms of poisoning showed themselves 

 within a few minutes after feeding. Most of the cows died 

 within an hour or so after being attacked. Case D : Here a 

 mixture of four bushels of ground maize, four bushels of the 

 beans, and twenty bushels of crushed oats was employed, and 

 on being fed to twenty-six cows resulted in the death of eight 

 and injurious effects to the whole of the remaining animals in 

 the herd. Case E : In this instance, four tons of beans invoiced 

 as "Java beans" were purchased, ground locally, and fed to thirty- 

 five dairy cows towards the end of March, 1905. The first time 

 the cattle got the meal only a very small portion was given, merely 

 a handful or two, together with other concentrated food, and 

 chopped scalded hay. One cow showed symptoms of illness but 

 recovered. She had newly calved, and was drenched for what 

 were supposed to be milk-fever symptoms. On the second 

 occasion, however, when about \-\\ lb. of the meal was given 

 to each beast, together with the same quantities of crushed oats 



* Bulletin of the Imperial Institute, 1903, Vol. I., pp. 15 and 112. 



