GRASS-STAGGERS IN CATTLE. 153 
untouched. A farrier had been attending them, and he told 
us that “ they had been poisoned, as sure as ever a beast 
was poisoned.” 
On inquiring into the state of the animals while labour¬ 
ing under the disease, the owner informed us that the first 
one was noticed to separate from the rest while in the field, 
and seemed dull and not feeding. 
On attempting to take her home, he was surprised to see 
her reel and stagger like a person drunk. He, with some 
difficulty, got her home and put her into a house, where she 
continued to get worse till she died. She champed her teeth 
a good deal, and also foamed at the mouth. 
On the following morning (being the day on 'which Mr. 
Paterson was sent for) the other two became affected. These 
were at pasture also, and showed all the symptoms of the 
first, but in a more aggravated form. They were both blind, 
and staggered so much that they could scarcely be got 
home. One of the cows was purging, which act sometimes 
accompanies this disease. 
On examining the pasture on which they had been feeding, 
nothing could be found to cause death by poisoning. It was a 
field of young rye-grass, and a considerable quantity of it shot. 
I then made a post-mortem examination of the one that 
died last; and on laying open the abdomen, I found the in¬ 
testines all in a normal state, with the exception of about 
two inches of the jejunum, which presented a slight blush 
of inflammation. The rumen contained no unusual quantity 
of ingesta, which consisted chiefly of half-shot rye-grass. 
The reticulum appeared to be perfectly healthy. The contents 
of the omasum seemed rather dry and impacted; that of the 
abomasum 'were fluid, and of a darker colour than ought to 
be, but no inflammation existed in any of the stomachs. 
I next opened the cranium and removed the brain, when 
the results of the disease were very evident. The pia mater 
was very much injected, and several spots of extravasated 
blood existed on the surface of the brain. I had a coloured 
drawing taken of it very shortly after it was removed, which 
I forward with this communication for your inspection. It 
conveys a very correct idea of its appearance. 
On the base of the cerebrum (which cannot be seen in the 
drawing) were several small spots of extravasated blood, and 
around them the inflammation had extended into the sub¬ 
stance of the brain. Also on the left hemisphere of the 
cerebrum, at its lateral side, where it rests on the suture 
formed by the junction of the frontal and parietal bones, a 
considerable amount of extravasation had taken place, and 
