190 
DO ANIMALS EAT THE RANUNCULACEA£ 
OBSERVATIONS BY ASSISTANT-PROEESSOR VARNELL. 
Our remarks on the above cases must of necessity be brief, 
and to a great extent inconclusive, in consequence of not 
being in possession of sufficient data, upon which to form 
anything like a definite opinion. 
With reference to the post-mortem appearances, an outline 
only was given to us, and that during a short conversation 
with Mr. Wallis. Each of the facts may have possessed, in 
association with disease of other organs not mentioned, many 
interesting peculiarities, and which might have assisted us in 
coming to a more correct knowledge of the nature of the 
disease, as well as the cause which gave rise to it. 
These few facts, however, have their value, and will, we 
hope, excite a deeper research, and lead to a clearer elucida¬ 
tion of similar affections. 
A summary of the leading features of the case is as follows: 
Several horses, oxen, and sheep have died in a very short 
time without, as far as we know, showing scarcely any pre¬ 
monitory symptoms. They had all been pastured in the 
same field, which, in some seasons of the year, is overflowed 
with water, and here the cause of the disease is believed to 
have existed. 
Examination after death developed, as has been before 
stated, an enormously enlarged spleen, and redness and 
ecchymosis of the intestinal mucous membrane. In the 
meadow the only plant discovered which was thought to be 
inimical to health was the “ Ranunculus bulbosus,” one of the 
most poisonous of that variety of plants, and of this there was 
a great abundance. 
We should expect that if animals partook of a sufficient 
quantity of these plants so as to cause death, the constitu¬ 
tional disturbance would not have been overlooked by those 
whose duty it was to see the stock from time to time. Dr. 
Tayjor, in his c Manual on Poisons/ p. 519, states that there 
is no instance of this plant (the Ranunculus bulbosus) having 
operated fatally on the human being; but the effects are 
such as leave no doubt of its possessing poisonous properties. 
The following case of poisoning by it is of recent occurrence : 
(i A young lady, aged fifteen years, ate several stems and 
flowers of the plant, and chewed many more, sucking the 
juice. In six hours she complained of a sense of heat in the 
throat, and sickness ; these symptoms were followed by 
tenderness of the abdomen, delirium, and stupor. The 
symptoms lasted eight days, leaving her in a state of debility. 
