U. S. VETERINARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 
481 
testines contained a bloody, mushy, almost odorless mixture. From the last 
fourth of the ileum to the terminus of the alimentary canal, the mucous mem¬ 
brane was stained with blood, which could be washed off, save in the ccecum 
and first half of the colon, where this sanguinous abnormity penetrated the mu¬ 
cosa and muscular coat to such a depth that it might be termed a bloody infil¬ 
tration. 
Spleen and liver nornal, as were also the kidneys. Gall-bladder filled with 
green-colored bile of molasses consistency. 
Water-bladder contained a yellowish translucent urine. 
Lungs and heart were healthy, except that the bronchial tube and trachea 
were occupied by a considerable amount of white foam. 
The brain was not damaged in the least by the death-blow, unless a few con¬ 
gested vessels seen in the arachnoida were the result of it. Whether it was softer 
than normal cannot be maintained As there was nothing unusual in the ani¬ 
mal’s locomotion, an examination of the spinal cord was not made, there being 
little hope that its exposition would lead to any important disclosures. 
The foreman remarked that in all the cadavers he opened he found nothing 
that attracted his attention, except white foam in the respiratory apparatus and 
bloody contents of the bowels. 
He attributed the cause of this strange disease to the second consignment of 
cotton seed cake meal, which he was then feeding; it was coarser, of a different 
color, and less pleasant to the smell than the first. The cattle did not take hold 
of it with relish, some refused it altogether, a number of them took sick, some 
died, and others recovered. He informed the Superintendent of his suspicions, 
but the food was not changed until the death reports increased daily. 
A superficial inspection of this food showed that it consisted of coarse 
crushed hulls, of a brown color, covered with downy fibrous substance, which 
at first sight looked like mold, and very likely mold was associated with it. 
Whether these cattle actually succumbed to this cotton seed cake meal is an 
open question, still in revising Dr. E. Potts’ description regarding the properties 
of this cake and meal, in Yol. 1. page 428 of the Thierarztliche Encyclopedia, 
edited by Dr. Koch, Vienna, I notice an intimation which will admit of such a 
conjecture. After giving a brief classification of the different kinds of gossypium 
from which the seed is obtained, he says : “ Upon the extraction of the oil, these 
cakes are of various qualities, and not always fit for food. 
Cotton seed cakes, meal, etc., are brought to market containing, be¬ 
sides the hard, indigestible ground hulls, a good deal of cotton fibres, and are 
therefore fit only for fertilizing. If utilized for food, they call forth violent dis¬ 
turbances in the digestive organs, and upon continuous feeding, may eventually 
cause death, as the cotton fibres ball together in the alimentary tract, thus pro¬ 
ducing constipation and inflammation of the bowels. 
Cakes made from hulled seeds are most nutritious, digestible and palatable. 
The better quality (unhulled) cakes are made from the Egyptian seed, it being 
easily freed from fibres ; it is pressed whole, and as an article of food, is much 
sought after in England. 
Those cakes (unhulled) full of fibres are of a dark brown color ; and those 
containing less fibres are, on the other hand, of a greenish color, but soon turn 
