732 
THE VETERINARIAN, OCTOBER 1, 1879. 
Ne quid falsi dicere audeat, ne quid veri non audeat.—ClCEBO. 
THE INFLUENCE OF THE WET SEASON ON THE CON- 
DITION OF STOCK. 
Abundant moisture almost necessarily leads to the growth 
of luxuriant herbage, and the past season has not been an 
exception to the rule. Everywhere vegetation has in ap¬ 
pearance flourished, and there has been no lack of the green 
things of the earth. Trees have been, and indeed are now, 
covered with verdant leaves to an extent that has occasioned 
remark, and the earth has been clothed with a dense mass of 
herbage which to the eye promised more than it has appa¬ 
rently been able to perform. As we hear the constant 
complaint that the animals, lambs in particular, which have 
been sustained on the grass chiefly have no “proof ” in them, 
and it is not difficult to understand how this state of things 
has been brought. 
Excessive moisture has the effect of stimulating the 
growth of herbage, probably by supplying water, which is 
one of the principal constituents. Grass so grown has 
always been estimated at a very low nutritive value, and in 
many cases there has been evidence to justify a suspicion 
that food of this quality has a direct influence in the pro¬ 
duction of various forms of aneemia. Some years ago 
Dr. Yoelcker made a series of experiments on grasses which 
were grown under the unfavorable conditions which have 
recently obtained, and found that, not only w'as the quantity 
of water in excess, but, further, that the amount of nitrogen 
was higher than usual, while the proportion of proteids was 
deficient. The conclusion to be drawn from the inquiry was 
that under the exciting effects of continued rain plants 
did not become perfectly mature or ripe, and that, therefore, 
while the quantity was in excess of the ordinary yield, the 
value of the herbage for feeding was so far lessened that 
the total result was a deficiency of feeding material. Setting 
