POISONING OF PIGS WITH COMMON SALT. 
769 
On my arrival there I found five of them were dead and 
several more condemned, and all of them in a very precarious 
state ; in fact, we were obliged to have three or four more 
killed immediately, or they would have died. 
Upon making inquiry respecting their management and 
the character of their food, I found they had been fed upon 
wheat-flour which was made from the rakings of the farm, 
boiled potatoes that were diseased, and fusty bran ; which 
I certainly thought at the time was rather peculiar diet. 
The general symptoms presented were—loss of appetite, 
thirst, and dulness. There was likewise a certain amount of 
flatulence present, which was accompanied with diarrhoea. 
Vertigo and convulsive movements also existed, all the 
animals having epileptic fits to a greater or less extent, and 
these rapidly increased as death approached. There was 
also constant champing with an accumulation of foam around 
the mouth, and they were constantly shaking their heads. 
The mucous membrane of the mouth was very pink in colour, 
or rather approaching to a red hue. The eyes were bright 
and the pupils dilated, and many of the animals were totally 
blind. After a time they were unable to stand, and ulti¬ 
mately the hinder parts became paralysed, and in the course 
of from eight to twenty-four hours after the first symptoms 
were presented they died in convulsions. 
Some of the animals being dead, afforded me an oppor¬ 
tunity of instituting a post-mortem examination, which, how¬ 
ever, at that time and place I was unable to do very 
minutely. 
Upon opening the abdomen and exposing the intestines, 
there was seen general inflammation extending throughout 
the whole of them. The stomach was very much inflamed, 
the mucous membrane very dry, and stained in different parts 
by dark-black blood, which was infiltrated into its substance. 
On the 22nd of October I again saw my patients, and 
found that the owner had been obliged to kill another pig, 
weighing sixteen stones. It being left for my inspection, I 
accordingly made a post-mortem examination, and found the 
appearances much the same as in those I had examined the 
previous day. 
By close inquiry I now ascertained that the animals, 
twenty-six in number, had been, and, indeed, were at this 
time, having mixed with their food a stone and a half of salt 
in three days. 
I brought a little pig away with me. It w T as suffering very 
much, and had severe epileptic fits, which gradually in¬ 
creased both in frequency and duration as night approached. 
