DEATH OF HORSES FROM OATS AFFECTED WITH FUNGI. 67 
of which about five quarters now remained; and with the exception of having 
a fusty smell, they presented nothing remarkable, nor did the bean-meal or 
bran, both of which had been purchased from a respectable dealer, and were 
unexceptionable in quality. It was deemed imperative, however, that no 
more of either should be used until an analysis had been made by a compe¬ 
tent chemist. 
I will now return to the case of the brown mare. She was seen by 
Mr. Dray and myself at 8 p.m., and appeared in much the same con¬ 
dition as at 3 p.m. We exhibited some medicine, and left more to be given 
every four hours. An injection was also thrown up, and orders given to 
repeat it, if necessary, during the night. The mare was seen to drop at 2 on 
the following morning, and died at 11; and when examined post-mortem , the 
condition of the stomach and small intestines was found to be precisely simi¬ 
lar to the others. 
A gray draught-gelding, out at grass, was at 6 on the morning of the 31st 
found down in the field and unable to rise. This horse had some of the oats 
on the 24th, and was noticed on the 25th not to be so well as usual. He 
however appeared to recover shortly afterwards, and no further notice was 
taken of him until he was found down. 
I saw him at noon, and as he was then evidently past recovery, no 
medicine was given. At Mr. Ingham’s request he was destroyed. Post¬ 
mortem similar to the others. 
An aged black draught mare, emaciated but still in good health, was this 
afternoon obtained for the purpose of experiment, and placed in the same box 
which the other animals had died in. She had a feed of the oats on her 
arrival, and was regularly fed till the evening of the 2nd of August. On the 
3rd of August, at 6 a.m., she was found down and unable to rise. She had 
eaten her evening feed, and died at 11 a.m. Post-mortem as the others. 
Another mare was now purchased and placed in the same box, but fed 
upon food obtained from a different source. She remained a week, and as 
she was then in good health she was removed. 
On the afternoon of Saturday, the 17th of August, a dun pony fourteen 
hands one inch high, was placed in a stable several hundred yards from 
Mr. Ingham’s, and fed upon the suspected oats. He had one feed in the 
evening, one on Sunday morning, and a third in the evening of that day, with 
the addition of a small handful of hay. He was found dead at 7 o’clock on 
the Monday morning, having eaten only part of his food. The corn remaining 
in the manger was completely saturated with saliva, the quantity of which 
Mr. Ingham estimated at between three and four pints. The post-mortem 
like the other. 
The stomach and intestines, with their contents, and also a portion of the 
liver of the bay horse, brown mare, and gray horse, were given over for 
analysis to two different chemists, but nothing has been found to assist in a 
solution of the mystery. The oats, bean-meal, and bran, have also been 
analyzed, but without any poisonous matter being found. 
Some of the oats have been sent, per Great Northern Railway, directed to 
you to-day, and I hope you will give them to an animal; if so, I 
have no doubt they will produce death. I think the matter should be laid 
before the profession, and I shall be glad if you will take steps to have the cases 
published. Should you wish for further information, I will endeavour to 
obtain it. 
I am, my dear Sir, 
Yours very truly, 
(Signed) John Mitchell. 
To George Varnell, Esq., 
Royal Yet. College. 
