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THE VETERINARIAN, AUGUST 1, 1836. 
Ne quid falsi dicerc audeat, ne quid veri non audeat. — Cicero. 
A cause very important to the farmer and the veterinary 
surgeon was tried at the Nottingham Assizes on the 24th ult. 
We present our readers with the substance of it. 
The plaintiff, Mr. Jackson, of Stapleford, near Nottingham, 
was owner of several parcels of n^eadow land, through which ran 
a small stream of water of excellent quality. It was called the 
Syk brook. Near its source is a cromlech in unusual preserva- 
tion. It is one of the most perfect Druidical remains which 
the midland counties possess ; and a legend is attached to the 
brook, that in days of yore, the sick used to resort to this spot, 
and, after certain Druidical incantations and ceremonies, and 
drinking of the water which ran beneath the cromlech, they were 
cured of all their diseases. However this might have been, these 
meadows had been in the possession of Mr. Jackson’s family for 
some centuries, and the cattle had always done well. 
Thirteen years ago the defendant, Mr. Hall, erected some 
buildings for the manufacture of starch near the brook, and 
above Mr. Jackson’s meadows. No change was observed in the 
water or the condition of the cattle for the first two or three 
years ; but at length the water used in the manufacture of the 
starch found its way into this brook in considerable quantities, 
and then the milk of all the cows rapidly diminished, many of 
the cattle became seriously ill, and in the course of some years 
no fewer than twenty-six of them died, and all of a disease 
accompanied by nearly the same symptoms, and the fish and 
the frogs which had peopled the brook all died. 
In the manufacture of the starch the wheat from which it was 
obtained was first ground. It was then macerated in water 
until the gluten was dissolved and the starch precipitated, and 
the bran was left floating in the tank. It had now undergone * 
very considerable fermentation, and the whole mass was in the 
highest state of putrefaction, and exceedingly offensive both to 
the taste and smell. The liquid containing the dissolved putre- 
fied gluten was now drawn off, and was preserved for sale. It 
was supposed to be an excellent manure, and for a while there 
was considerable demand for it ; but at length it lay upon hand, 
and was thrown away, and took its course down a ditch into the 
