246 
VETERINARY TOXICOLOGY. 
tering his usual dose of castor oil, assuring the owner that 
“it was only a hit of an obstruction in th efaik,” and would 
soon be better again, but continued his doses until the second, 
third, and fourth had been given, when, on the morning of 
the third day of his attendance a rapid change for the worse 
was visible, and the owner determined to kill the animal to 
save the carcase. She was immediately slaughtered and the 
carcase dressed, but it was in such a bad and blackened con¬ 
dition that the butcher would not risk the chance of detec¬ 
tion by forwarding it. Being well acquainted with the 
butcher, and able to vouch for his intelligence and veracity, 
I can submit to your readers such a detail of the condition of 
parts and appearances as will, I presume, convince them that 
the animal was a victim of the poison. 
“ The carcase had a yellow tinge, with a number of black 
spots pervading the substance of the flesh, when cut into, 
which produced a very peculiar smell, and which was greatly 
increased when the abdomen was opened. In that cavity 
was an enormous .quantity of watery fluid, of a dirty-grey 
colour, estimated at over twelve gallons. It differed from 
the watery fluid generally found therein, being less bloody, 
and looked as if it contained small particles of food. The fat 
on the stomach was very dirty and very rough. On removing 
the stomach and bowels from the cavity, by forcing his hand 
between the skirt (diaphragm) and the stomach to secure the 
gullet (oesophagus) the butcher put his fingers into a small 
hole in the stomach, just before the c hodge’ (omasum), which 
he greatly enlarged in his attempts to remove the f belly’ as 
it seemed easily torn, and looked as if f grow’d to the skirt’ 
The entrails were very black-looking, and had a roughened 
appearance in some places. The liver was large, and softer 
than usual. The kidneys were greatly enlarged and very 
soft, and in their interior was a quantity of white mattery 
fluid, which was also found in the bladder to a considerable 
extent. The lungs were of a dark greenish hue, very heavy, 
but f were not grow’d to the sides.’ ” 
Such, in brief, was the report of the butcher, and these 
statements, considered in connection with the history of the 
case, point to the conclusion that the lesions were the result 
of arsenical poisoning, and, if so, are pregnant with facts of 
pathological and toxicological importance. 
The fluid in the abdominal cavity could scarcely be re¬ 
garded as the result of peritonitis induced by the poison in 
the system, as the quantity and appearances negative the 
supposition; nor could it be considered as a dropsical 
effusion, the time being too short for its accumulation, and 
