ACORN-POISONING. 
27 
in the hedgerows about here, and the poor people collect 
the acorns and sell them to farmers and others for feeding 
pigs and cattle. 
In confirmation of my opinion that acorns, when taken in 
small quantities for a length of time, act as a slow hut sure 
blood poison, I would mention that of the only three surviv- 
ing beasts originally joisted in Patshull park, two have since 
died from the effects of the poison, exhibiting all the symp- 
toms which I before mentioned. These three beasts showed 
slight symptoms of the disease when removed from the park, 
viz., dulness, and a slightly staggering gait. They were 
attended by a veterinary surgeon, were well nursed, and had 
every care and attention. Besides the animals joisted in the 
park, Earl Dartmouth 5 s people have lost twelve of their own 
beasts, not one of which died from impaction ; but all exhibited 
the same post-mortem appearances as the joisted animals. 
“A Dorset Farmer 55 is not disposed to admit that acorns are 
poisonous. He writes : — 
I have lost three young beasts by distension of the rumen, 
as I take it distinct from “ blasting / 5 as little, if any, gas is 
found. The animals had just recovered from the foot and 
mouth disease, and they seem to have such vitiated appetites 
that they incline to eat straw, and all other rough stuff that 
they cannot digest. The result has been that one died out- 
right, the other was scarcely saved by the butcher, and the 
third was killed to save her. They were all in good condition, 
and in so far as I could find out every organ was perfect, but the 
stomach of each was filled with a not over dry mass of food. 
Had these creatures been eating acorns, it would have been 
put down to this cause, but young things are going in every 
direction without having had acorns, though it is just possible 
that as in this county lots of animals are turned into mea- 
dows, where now they get a bite for the first time, they may 
eat too greedily. 
In our experiments with acorns we have not succeeded in 
producing a fatal result; one animal, a heifer, remained 
for some days in a critical condition, but subsequently reco- 
vered. It is necessary to observe that the acorns which we 
employed were ripe, quite dry, and also that they were mostly 
crushed before being given in moderate quantities. Not- 
withstanding these favorable circumstances, the symptoms 
which presented themselves in a few days after the experi- 
ment commenced were precisely those which have been 
observed in the early stages of acorn-poisoning. The details 
of the experiments we reserve for future reference. 
