YEW POISONOUS TO CATTLE. 
87 
Mr. John Firth, farm bailiff to Earl Fitzwilliam, Wentworth 
House, requested me to accompany him to examine two Scotch 
oxen which had been found dead in a pasture amongst thirty-four 
others. I did so, and found a quantity of green yew in them, 
which produced the following effects, and caused death. The 
lesions :—All the principal viscera of the thorax and abdomen pre¬ 
sented a highly inflamed and abnormal appearance ; the rumen 
and reticulum were loaded with ingesta, and yew was mixed with 
it, as it had been cropped from the trees; the folds of the omasum 
were fixed, and, when separated, the mucous membrane was left on 
the intervening matter; the rumen and reticulum were also the 
same: the abomasum and bowels were empty; and the anus was 
prolapsed or inverted, and very bloody. 
I went to the pasture and examined the other cattle, and found 
a third bullock shivering and hoven, evidently labouring under in¬ 
digestion, which produced much pain. We attempted to drive him 
to the farm-yard, rather more than a mile distant; but when we 
had proceeded about three-quarters of a mile, he dropped down, 
and was seized with two severe spasms, which I thought would 
terminate his life; but after a time he rallied, and we got him 
under cover, when I gave him magnes. sulphas, and ol. lini in 
effective and well-timed doses, which evacuated the stomach, re¬ 
stored healthy action, and he is now well. If you think this com¬ 
munication will be of any service to your veterinary and agricul¬ 
tural readers, it is at your disposal. I am, Sir, 
Your’s obediently. 
January 17, 1849. 
To the Editor of “ The Veterinarian .” 
Sir,—I HAD neither thought nor wished, when I penned the 
concluding remarks of the letter I sent you on the 11th November, 
that 1 was to afford Mr. Cherry pretext for taking up three pages 
of your valuable Periodical to so little purpose. My intention 
simply was, to give expression to an opinion which I know to be 
prevalent among the country members of the veterinary body, in 
regard to the change which has happened in Mr. Cherry’s views 
about registration. If I was wrong, why not say so in as many 
words, and have done with it ? None would have been better 
pleased to find themselves in error than those who, along with me, 
feel disappointed at the result of the registration scheme. In regard 
to Mr. Cherry’s self-laudatory letter, I have nothing to say, simply 
