THE 
VETERINARIAN. 
VOL. XXXV. 
No.414. 
JUNE, 1862 . 
Fourth Series. 
No. 90. 
Communications and Cases, 
MR. HARRISON'S CASES OF “POISONING OF 
CATTLE AND A PONY BY ARSENIC." 
Letter from Professor Tuson, of the Royal Veterinary 
College. 
Dear Sirs, —In the May number of the Veterinarian there 
appears an article, entitled “ Poisoning of Cattle and a Pony 
by Arsenic/’ by Mr. John Harrison, of Brough, to which is 
appended an analysis made by that gentleman, with the 
assistance of his friend, Mr. Walton. It is with reference to 
this analysis that I beg to be permitted to make a few 
remarks. 
In the article referred to,it is stated—“Premising that the 
parts contained some mineral poison soluble in boiling water, 
we placed a portion of the liver in a tumbler, with some clear 
rain water sufficient to cover it. After subjecting this to 
boiling heat on a sand-bath for about half an hour, the sus¬ 
pected fluid was twice filtered through bibulous paper, and 
then portions of it w r ere subjected to the following test: 
“ I. Ammonio-sulpAiate of copper> which gave a grass-green pre¬ 
cipitate—Scheele's green. 
“II. Ammonio-nitrate of silver , a flocculent, yellow, precipitate, 
soluble in excess of ammonia." 
Now before proceeding to detail the other tests which 
were employed, I may observe— 
lstly. That, when absorbed by the liver, arsenic is rendered 
insoluble in water by combining with albumenoid bodies, 
and that chemists and toxicologists are consequently in the 
habit of dissolving out absorbed arsenic from the tissue of 
an organ by means of hydrochloric acid or some other 
appropriate solvent. 
xxxv. 
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