644 SUSPECTED POISONING OF HORSES WITH SAVIN. 
my arrival I found that they had lost nine horses within a 
fortnight, seven of them dying within eight days, and two of 
them were then lying dead in the yard, awaiting a post¬ 
mortem examination. Some of the others were unable to 
work, and exhibited the same symptoms of disease as the 
others had done before they died. On reaching the stable, 
which is about a mile from the place where they work, 1 
examined those animals that w 7 ere unable to work, and all 
had the appearance of being under the influence of a nar¬ 
cotic, wdth the exception of one, a bay horse, eight or nine 
years old, in whom the symptoms were more marked than in 
any of the others: his coat was staring, his eyes sunk, and 
had a sort of vacant stare; his mouth clammy, and filled with 
a viscid saliva; the faeces w 7 ere covered with slime; the secre¬ 
tion of urine w r as greatly increased ; the pulse had a corded feel, 
and bounded beneath the fingers w 7 hen pressed upon; there 
w 7 as also a w 7 atery discharge from the eyes and nostrils, but 
the respiration w 7 as not much increased. 
My impression w 7 as that some poisonous agent had been 
administered, but as the manager and horsekeeper attributed 
the disease to working in a new heading, w 7 here the air w 7 as 
firy, I said nothing until I had made a post-mortem examina¬ 
tion of the two that were lying dead. 
Post-mortem appearances .—The mouth and internal coat of 
oesophagus inflamed, also the cuticular coat of the stomach ; 
the mucous coat of the stomach and small intestines greatly 
inflamed, and covered with a slimy mucus; the stomach 
also contained an oily, greenish-yellow fluid, w 7 hich from 
its strong disagreeable odour I knew to be caused by savin, 
although the horsekeeper at first denied having given anything 
to the animal with the exception of a little gruel. The kid¬ 
neys contained a small quantity of pus, and were a little 
softened; the liver w 7 as pretty healthy in appearance. 
Both cases had the same appearance, with the exception of 
the lungs, which in one animal w 7 ere congested, in the other 
they were healthy. 
On finding a good many of the symptoms of poisoning 
with savin, which was strengthened by the result of the 
post-mortem appearances, and also detecting that substance 
in the stomach, I came to the conclusion that death was 
caused by that agent. I therefore ordered a dose of medicine 
to be administered to those horses that were sick, and sent 
some tonic agent to be afterwards given, and all recovered 
with the exception of the one whose symptoms I have already 
described; he lingered about ten days, and then fell off 
again, notwithstanding all that could be done for him 
