POISONING FROM COPPER ORE* 623 
her presenting the following symptoms: — She stood with her 
head extended, breathing most laboriously, with a peculiar 
moan, something similar to the attendant of that direful disease, 
pleuro-pneumonia; pulse weak and wavering; but as the beast 
had been bled before my arrival, I am not able to give an account 
of its state previously. Ears and legs cold, attended with a 
general chilliness all over the surface of the body ; dung hard, 
black, and in small lumps. After viewing the case, as it thus 
presented itself, I was rather puzzled to give an opinion, but 
felt inclined to say, it was inflammation of the lungs; still there 
were certain appearances wanting to confirm that belief ; viz. 
the cough, as a general attendant; shivering; and the ropy dis- 
charge from the mouth. Well : if not inflammation of the 
lungs, what was it! There I was nonsuited. Suffice it to 
say, the animal had been bled, and that largely; and now, the 
pulse not warranting the abstraction of more, I administered an 
active purgative, combined with tartarized antimony, &c. I 
also inserted setons in the breast, gave orders for future pro- 
ceedings, and left to call again in a few hours. In the even- 
ing I paid her another visit, and found her in a state pitiful to 
behold ; she was laid down, suffering severely, and breathing 
more laboriously than at my first visit : in fact, she appeared to be 
in the agonies of death. Seeing now all hopes of recovery at 
an end, and death near at hand, I left, with a promise to call 
again next morning, for the purpose of making a post-mortem. 
1 did attend, and found, as I expected, that she had paid the 
debt of nature shortly after my last visit. The body had 
become enormously swollen. On opening it, a great quan- 
tity of air escaped with much force. The heart, lungs, liver, 
mesentery and bowels, were in a state of intense inflamma- 
tion, and the gall-bladder distended almost to bursting; the 
liver was soft, and easily torn. From a question accidentally 
put to the owner, it struck me, the beast might have received 
some poison, or otherwise might have been in the neighbour- 
hood of mines (both lead and copper), and so might have had 
some of the ore so plentifully scattered about those places. 
On this supposition, I made as minute an examination of the 
stomach as the time and place would admit. Beginning with 
the first, I examined its contents throughout, but found nothing 
to confirm the suspicion. So with the second and third, 
nothing particular shewing itself, save the inflammation, which 
presented itself everywhere. But on laying open the aboma- 
sum, there became presented to our view some very suspi- 
cious appearances, viz., a quantity of copper ore, covering a 
surface of about a hand-breath ; the quantity I cannot state, as 
