454 Report on Experiments in reference to Pleuro-Pneumonia. 
tlie carcase or parts tliereof with healthy sheep would propagate 
the disease, thus obtaining an answer to the question, " Can the 
dead convey infection ? " 
It may be stated, however, that the belief of the veterinary pro- 
fession is that dead sheep will convey sheep-pox : and with regard 
to cattle-plague it may be affirmed that the disease being thus 
propagated is established beyond all doubt. There are several 
reasons for believing that the carcases of diseased sheep are a 
source of real danger to healthy animals ; but other experiments 
are required in this direction. 
Acorn-poisoninfj. — It had long been known that acorns, from 
their indigestibility and consequent retention within the stomach 
and intestinal canal, often proved injurious to cattle, sheep, and 
even pigs, when too freely partaken of. It was not, however, until 
the autumn of 1868 that any suspicion seems to have been 
entertained that acorns contained, under certain circumstances, 
deleterious matter which would produce blood-poisoning in cattle, 
especially in those which were under two years of age. This 
blood-poisoning does not appear to be due to the tannic, or the 
gallic acid of acorns, nor to an immoderate quantity of them 
having accumulated within the stomachs or intestines. Indeed, 
experience has shown that the worst form of the disease is often 
developed after the greatest part of the acorns have been expelled 
from the system, and when diarrhoea and not constipation is one 
of the leading symptoms. In the year referred to, a large crop of 
acorns followed upon an unusually hot and dry summer, by 
which all ordinary pasturage was nearly destroyed, and probably 
also the acorns themselves brought into a more perfect or ripe 
condition. As soon as the acorns began to fall it was found that 
the young cattle grazing in parks and pastures, where oak-trees 
abounded were attacked, with a serious and most fatal malady. 
Some of the animals suffered more than others, but none escaped 
an attack if allowed to remain in the pastures and partake of the 
acorns. The fatality was very great, often reaching as high as 
60 to 70 per cent. So numerous, indeed, were the deaths, and 
so peculiar the symptoms, that many of the original attacks were 
thought to depend upon an outbreak of cattle-plague. The 
similarity of the symptoms in the two affections was very remark- 
able, so much so indeed that had cattle-plague still existed in the 
country there cannot be a doubt that the spread of the disease would 
have been attributed to an outbreak of that malady. As a matter 
of history, it may be stated that our advice was originally sought 
in many of the cases in order to determine whether cattle-plague 
had really reappeared in the country. Numerous visits were 
made into the Midland and Southern counties particularly, and 
the same characteristic symptoms of the acorn-disease were 
