VETERINARY JURISPRUDENCE. 
285 
had been with me for four years past, and Meikle one year past in April. 
We had one cask of arsenic, which we got from Mr. Philips Spencer, 
of Newcastle, which I purchased in 1856. It was kept in a back 
wareroom. I kept my soda ash in the same room, as also the sulphur. 
1 was not with the apprentices all the time they were preparing the 
powders. The soda ash and arsenic were exactly of the same weight. 
They were sent off according to Mr. Black's direction, on Wednesday, 
18th August. I was travelling on the Newcastle and Berwick Railway. 
1 left at Warkworth station, and one of my apprentices told me to 
stop at Lockhart station. I did so, and I there met Mr. Brown. 
I asked if it was true that 600 of his sheep had died. He said “ Yes.” 
I said it could not be possible, as I had never heard of a single acci¬ 
dent resulting from the use of my powders. He said I would see when I 
got to the town. On getting there I asked the shepherd how he had 
done this. He said, “Just by using the bath according to your instruc¬ 
tions.” 1 went to where there was a dead sheep. It was opened by 
one or other of the men. I was very much confused and distressed 
about the matter. I said I could not account at all for the death of the 
sheep. On the way down to the house I mentioned the cask of 
damp arsenic which I had bought as being the only probable cause that 
I could see for the death. 1 stopped the young men from using it, not 
because I thought it would be deleterious, but because I thought it 
would be inert. Mr. Brown asked me as to the weight of my powder. 
Mr. Brown mentioned 2 lbs. 10 oz. or nearly so. I said that is the exact 
weight of my powder. I did not at that time mention what my 
powder was composed of. I said if Mr. Black would call on me on 
Saturday I should have more time to consider the matter and talk with 
him. After getting home I ascertained that the powders had been 
made out of Spencer's cask. I then sent round the country to ascertain 
the fate of the flocks to which the same powders had been applied. 
On the 20th of August I took one of the powders to Dr. M‘Laggan, in 
Edinburgh. 1 came back the same day. On the next day, 21st 
August, the plaintiff and another gentleman came into my shop. I did 
not then know Mr. Black. I asked, “ Are you Mr. Black ?” He said he 
was. I said this was a dreadful calamity. He said it was. I said I 
had made a careful investigation into the matter, and that I had also 
sent word round the country to ascertain the fate of the sheep to whom 
the same powder had been applied. The result of that inquiry was, 
that all the other flocks bathed that week were well. I said to him,* I 
distinctly denied the bath would produce the same effect as on his, if 
used according to the printed instructions. Mr. Black said the packet 
is in Edinburgh for analysis. I asked if he would give me a copy of 
the analysis, to which he made no reply. I then said, would he give me 
the stomach of one or two of the sheep. He said there was also 
a sheep in Edinburgh for the purpose of analysis. I said, if they had 
been bathed according to these instructions no injury would have hap¬ 
pened. I said the probable cause of death was the paragraph which 
appeared in yesterday’s paper, viz., that the sheep being turned out into 
the pasture in a wet state, the rain had washed the poison off the wool, 
and that the sheep by eating it off the grass had died. 
By Mr. Manisty—I had three apprentices in August last—Robert¬ 
son, Meikle, and Fitzgerald. The latter is under-assistant, and has 
nothing to do with the preparation of the powders. I do not myself 
mix the packages. I am not aware that the strength of arsenic, when 
it comes from the wholesale dealers, varies extremely; and dealing 
with respectable houses, we rely on it being of the same strength. 
