180 DEATH OF EWES FROM EATING MAIZE. 
On my arrival I found that six had been removed from the 
flock; two were dead, and the others were lying down in un- 
natural positions, appearing very dull and stupid, and not 
earing to move. They were tympanitic, and breathed with 
difficulty; the bowels were constipated, and the animals 
would not take food of any kind. 
My first idea was that they had eaten something of a poi- 
sonous nature, therefore I at once went to the field from 
which they were taken, but could not find anything of a 
deleterious kind in the herbage. I did find, however, another 
sheep unwell, which I had removed. 
It appeared that these sheep had been kept at another 
part of the farm, and entirely on green food, but that two days 
previously to my seeing them they had been brought nearer 
the house, because the land was covered with snow, and the 
shepherd had given them some straw-chaff, decorticated 
cotton-cake, and unbroken maize. 
I made & post-mortem examination of the sheep that had died, 
and found, on opening the rumen, that it contained a large 
quantitity of ingesta of usual appearance, mixed with which 
was a lot of unbroken maize, which I was surprised to see ; but 
on coming to the reticulum, I found it completely filled with 
unbroken maize, quite hard, and appearing as if it had been 
just swallowed, except that the grains were a little larger from 
absorption of moisture ; the third and fourth stomachs con- 
tained little or nothing, and every other organ of the body 
appeared normal. I therefore concluded that the unbroken 
maize, taken in large quantities, was the cause of death. 
I ordered that all the rest of the flock should take 01. Ricini, 
Mag. Sulph., and Liq. Ammon. Arom. Two died and the 
remainder recovered. 
The next day I made a post-mortem of the two that had 
died, and they were in the same condition. 
I ordered change of food for the remainder of the animals, 
after which they all went on well. 
I might add that all the sheep which were taken ill were 
aged, therefore would probably eat a larger quantity. I 
believe the young ones had never been given anything of 
the kind before. 
