Kidd V. Royal Agricultural Society of England. 659 
Then we have heard of doddev. Well, I think Dr. Voelcker has disposed 
uf dodder ; because the dodder about which so little is known, forsooth, turned 
3ut to be, and was proved by Dr. Voelcker himself to be, a known article of 
tiiod amongst agriculturahsts on the Continent and in this country. Why 
lodder is as well known in some parts of England and the Continent as 
inseed-cake ! Dr. Voelcker has established the fact that he knew dodder- 
•ake jjerfectly well as an article of food for cattle, and, therefore, you are 
isfced, because a few dodder seeds, the particular qualities of which the 
centleman who found them said he did not know, but which is now proved 
0 be used in bulk for the purpose of cattle-food, to come to the conclusion 
hat it, as well as the darnel, is injiurious. 
Now that is the ]X)sition in which you are left ; because I venture to say 
ou will agree with me that these comments of mine arc entitled to the 
reat«st weight. Take them together with the evidence of those professors, 
hat there is some fibrous matter there, and with the other suggestion that 
hey found some portions of cocoa-nut and other things more or less of a 
/oody character. But if you rely upon that, how do you account for the oil, 
•he mucilage and the albumen in the proportions which I have commented 
pen as existing in the cake? Because, if they are right as to the degree 
'i which this indigestible or woody fibre, the husk, or fibre of cocoa-nut, the 
ce-husks, cotton-husks, or any other things of that sort exist, the more true 
leir theory is the more absurd is the result of the chemical analysis which 
•veals such a different yield of valuable products by the samples which the 
rofessor tested. 
Well, Gentlemen, I think I have not upon this part of the case occupied 
our attention more than I was fully justified in doing, but it is to my mind 
: !Ost important one ; and just observe where it lands my friends. Neither 
chemists nor the microscopists can help you. No single person has 
-ted you. Mr. Fairley, or rather Mr. Tuson, sets up a theory that he 
lound two or three of the tail ends of grains of mouldy wheat — that was 
extraordinary discovery. Professor Simonds, to do him justice, laughs at 
because he says, " Why, if you fed cattle upon mouldy wheat, not merely 
0 or three accidental grains, but in larger portions, I am not prepared to 
that it would do them any mischief." But talk about a few little 
iidy grains ; why. Gentlemen, the very cake upon which that gentleman 
d made his experiments was marked wth wet, and the mere change of 
nosphere might account for a few of those little mouldy grains which he 
('s he saw. Are you to attach the slightest significance, or place the 
"-^htest confidence in these infinitesimal and hypercritical suggestions based 
the discoveries which are revealed by the microscojie ? I venture to say, 
■ the contrary, you will agi-ee with me that they are calculated to teach you 
'ition; for what is the case of my client to-day maybe the case with 
other manufacturer to-moiTOw. I do not care whether it is cloth or cake, 
li any other article of commerce, I say if a man is to have his character 
("ept away by the intricacies and infinitesimals of the microscope against a 
Uy of evidence such as I have had the honour to submit to you, why then 
i'.vill be a bad day indeed if they are not able to point to the solid strength 
( their case, as overriding all the subtleties of a nice and prying philosophy, 
tjh as has been brought to bear upon the examination of this cake. Before 
lart with this subject I must say I heard, with astonishment, one piece of 
edence froni the lips of Professor Fairley. It did seem to be a startling 
Ii^wsition, and it was one in which he was unsupported by anybody else : 
^ventured to put forward a suggestion before you, as to which he was silent 
ii'his Report in the first instance. But now at the trial, and when it is 
iiiortant if one witness can be a little more ingenious than another, he 
a'lally suggests that this cake, of which a sample was before you here 
2 U 2 
