PIGS POISONED BY EATING DECAYED VEGETABLES. 737 
I immediately commenced an autopsy, and the morbid 
appearances being the same in each case, I will describe 
those of the sow. The stomach, with a small portion of the 
duodenum, contained marked signs of acute inflammation; the 
villous coat was considerably thickened, and of a rusty yellow 
colour. The eroded and ulcerated patches characteristic of 
mineral poison were nowhere visible. All tlie other viscera 
were healthy, with the exception of their having a darker 
appearance than usual; especially was this the case with the 
liver. The blood throughout was of a deep lake colour, and 
' coagulated immediately on exposure to the atmosphere; both 
the auricles and ventricles of the heart were empty. The 
alimentary canal contained a good deal of partially decayed 
vegetable matter, suspended in a watery fluid possessing a 
most acid smell. The animals being in the immediate 
vicinity of a shrubbery and flower-garden, made me more 
particular than I should otherwise have been in searching 
for any specimens of Solanaceae or other poisonous plants, 
but I failed to discover anything of the kind. The only 
conclusion I could therefore arrive at was, that death had 
been caused b}' the casein of the milk, through long exposure 
to atmospheric influence, becoming converted into lactic acid 
and alcohol, which, together with sulphuretted hydrogen de¬ 
rived from the decomposing vegetables, had formed the poi¬ 
sonous mixture. 
It is somewhat strange that the same person should have 
lost a litter of pigs a few years since in a rather unaccount¬ 
able manner. 1 understand they had been eating the remains 
of a cow that had previously been largely dosed with nitre. 
Since this time a vegetable diet has been given to the pigs. 
A SECOND COMMUNICATION, 
From Mr. Barnett. 
In the communication I sent you a short time since, 
regarding an unusual fatality amongst some pigs, it was 
stated that two had recovered. I will now give you a 
few more particulars concerning these animals. 1 gave 
direetions at the time for careful hygienic treatment to 
be observed, which, however, was very far from being 
attended to, for on the seventh day after their first attack 
they were allowed decayed turnips ad Uhitum, The con¬ 
sequence was that, on the next day, I received a message 
