472 
POISONING OF A DONKEY BY “ EMERALD” 
GREEN PAPER. 
By S. Beeson, M.R.C.Y.S., Chalfont St. Peter. 
The subject of tbis case was a donkey about eight or nine 
years of age, the property of a lady in this neighbourhood. 
The animal was in good health and condition, doing but a 
moderate amount of work and having, together with two 
ponies and some cows, a good range of pasturage. 
My first acquaintance with the circumstances of the case 
was on Monday morning, May 8th, when a messenger arrived 
requesting my attendance to make a post mortem examina- 
tion of the animal, which had died very suddenly on the pre- 
vious Sunday afternoon. 
On my arrival, I found the animal lying on his side, some 
few yards from where he had died, the carcase having been 
removed from contact with the other animals in the field. 
The head was thrown back on to the shoulder, from which 
the hair had been detached as if in agony, and the legs were 
stretched out. 
I was told that the animal was observed to be feeding as 
usual at 3 o'clock p.m. on Sunday, but at 6 o'clock was found 
dead, and in the position above described, the grass upon the 
spot being literally torn up by the painful struggles of the 
animal. 
The viscera of the abdomen presented externally an ex- 
tremely healthy appearance, as, indeed, they did internally 
with the exception of the stomach, where the cause of the 
mischief was readily recognised. The major part of the 
contents of this viscus was of a light brown colour, but near 
the cardiac orifice about a pint of food largely mixed with 
imperfectly masticated paper was found, the whole being of 
a bright green colour. On manipulating this ingesta with a 
scalpel, the blade quickly became tinged with copper. 
The cuticular coat of the stomach was of a natural colour; 
but the villous coat showed the rose-coloured tint of arsenical 
poisoning, and was evidently highly inflamed. 
The presence of the paper prompting further search, atten- 
tion was directed to a small heap of rubbish in the meadow, 
which had been placed there within the last day or two. Mixed 
with odd pieces of brick, &c., in this heap was some paper 
which corresponded with that found in the stomach. This 
paper was composed of a white ground ornamented with 
green flowers, covering not more than one sixth of the surface ; 
