58 
ACORN-POISONING. 
In the autumn of 1868, and again in 1870, there occurred 
a fatal affection among cattle, apparently the result of the con- 
sumption of acorns, which in the two seasons referred to were 
very abundant after a long drought, when there was a great 
scarcity of herbage. 
It has long been known that acorns are injurious to 
animals under certain conditions ; hungry sheep have died 
soon after they have been turned into pastures where the 
nut has been plentiful, cattle have suffered from impact- 
ment of the husks in the omasum, and even pigs, which 
seem to live on acorns with impunity, are said to be affected 
with hardening of the muscles and the accumulation of small 
masses of indurated matter in the flesh, in consequence of 
frequent indulgence in their favorite food. The disease, 
however, to which we now refer under the name of acorn- 
poisoning is not due to accumulation of acorns in the stomach 
or intestines, and it is not the consequence of the astringent 
action of the food ; on the contrary, the worst form of the 
malady is often developed after all the acorns have been 
digested or expelled from the system, and the most fatal 
phase of the malady is associated with dysentery instead of 
constipation. 
During two outbreaks we have had opportunities of in- 
vestigating the disease in various localities and under different 
circumstances, and we purpose to place on record as complete 
a history as the materials at command will enable us. 
The first important question which demanded consideration 
at the outset of the inquiry had reference to the botanical and 
chemical position of the suspected aliment, and in answer to 
this query it will not be uninteresting to record the following 
remarks by our botanical contributor, Professor Buckman, in 
reference to the botany of the family to which the oaks 
belong : 
“ The genus Quercus, to which the oak is referred, is one 
possessing a large number of species, and most of these are 
apt to run into varieties. It belongs to the natural order 
Amentacea — the catkin family— so named from its cylindrical, 
oblong, or globular specks of unisexual flowers. In the oak 
the male flowers are arranged in slender pendulous catkins, 
whilst the female flowers consist of an involucre of small 
imbricated scales. The fruit is a nut or acorn , of an oblong 
or ovoid shape, protruding from a woody cup — cupule — formed 
of the enlarged scales. 
The acorn-cup is, in our British forms, with which we 
have now more particularly to do, supported by a foot-stalk 
( peduncle ) of variable length, which is accompanied by some 
