REPORTS OF CASES. 
712 
that were likely to have been used, but that the results had been 
negative. He had not seen the owner of the stock, and there¬ 
fore knew nothing of the history. 
Early in the afternoon the coachman came for me, and we 
started on a sixteen-mile drive. I mention this merely to show 
that I had plenty of time to get at some of the history. The 
negro, however, was very uncertain about many points, and I 
was not much better informed when I reached there than before 
starting. 
I got a brief history from the owner while walking towards 
the stables, and began to suspect that there was more indication 
of cerebro-spinal meningitis than of poisoning. He stated that 
on the Thursday before he was watching his three-year-old colts 
in the pasture, when he noticed one apparently stagger and fall, 
and in a very short time died. He and a couple of his tenants 
were talking over the affair and trying to account for the sud¬ 
denness of it, when another died, almost without showing any 
signs of sickness. The next day a third died, and poisoning 
w T as suspected. The intestines of this one were sent to the col¬ 
lege for analysis, together with the above note. This animal 
showed symptoms like one I shall describe later. On Saturday 
a mare that was suckling a colt was noticed to be drooping, and 
did not eat nor drink anything. She was not noticed to have 
made any manure during the day. The next day she died. On 
Monday a second mare, also suckling, was affected, and was the 
same one I saw on reaching there Tuesday evening. A third 
mare that had been but little used, and therefore on pasture 
most of the time, showed evidence of being ill at this time. 
As mare No. 2 was beyond recovery, I gave my attention to 
No. 3. I attempted to give a ball, and found the pharynx filled 
with a wad of grass. After removing this I gave the medicine 
in solution. This was very hard to do, as the animal seemed to 
have great difficulty in swallowing. Acting upon the success 
of Mr. Lockhart, of New York, with strychnine, as described in 
Finlay Dun, I gave this hypodermically. I then left her to 
more carefully examine No. 2. She was ten hours before, so I 
was told, not only in good condition, but quite fat. At that 
time, however, she was very thin and emaciated. Her tempera¬ 
ture was 105°. Her pulse at one time would be scarcely per¬ 
ceptible and a few moments later would be much stronger and 
very rapid. I would have destroyed her at once, but I wished 
to watch the case and the effects of aconite, which I gave in 
view of the symptoms presented. As it was then rather late in 
