PRESIDENT S ADDRESS. 
299 
subject of his address, Mr. Lincolne Sutton added that the 
matter had already proved of disastrous importance to many 
agriculturists in connection with Java beans. It was 
improbable that such beans would find their way into 
feeding stuffs again. With regard to linseed, its unique 
value as a stock food would not be affected by what was now 
known. In fact, that linseed contained a glucoside and an 
enzyme capable of producing prussic acid by inter-action 
was known as long ago as 1888. But in linseed cake it was 
generally the glucoside only which was present, the enzyme 
being comparatively easily destroyed, as usually happened in 
the manufacture of the cake by hot pressing. As the 
glucoside alone, so far as experience shows, cannot be acted 
upon in the process of digestion to produce prussic acid, 
farmers would go on using linseed cake for the most part in 
complete safety. But now and then a cake would occur 
which for some reason contained both glucoside and enzyme, 
both lock and key, so to speak. Then prussic acid would be 
set free if a mash of the cake was made with water, and 
especially if the mash were allowed to. stand overnight. If 
such a mash were given to young animals, the results might 
be disastrous. Such a sequence of events was undoubtedly 
the cause of death of five calves in Norfolk in the latter part 
of 1911. It is curious that this appears to be the only 
undoubted case of death known from this cause. There 
have been cases where the linseed has been suspected, but 
here the animals were young and susceptible, the mash was 
made overnight and allowed to stand, the glucoside and 
enzyme were both present in marked quantity and activity, 
prussic acid was strongly developed in the mash, and the 
symptoms were those of death by prussic acid. Moreover, 
no deaths occurred when the cake was discontinued, and 
when it was resumed another death took place. When 
linseed cake is fed dry, as it mostly is, there appears to be 
no danger. But danger may lurk in the linseed mash. 
