2 52 
A. BOSTROM. 
described in our veterinary publications as being caused by 
wormy and mouldy corn, and I believe that all these conditions, 
the cornstalk disease included, are cases of fungus poisoning. 
Cornstalks may be the cause of other conditions which fre¬ 
quently result in death. Sometimes cornstalks are cut up and 
fed to cattle and horses in July and August, when grass in the 
pasture is insufficient, and, when fed fresh and in limited 
amounts, I have never seen or heard of - any bad results there¬ 
from ; but when the stalks have been cut at this time of the 
year and allowed to remain in the field for a week or ten days, 
long enough to allow the development of an active process of 
fermentation, and then fed, I have seen the most serious disease 
with death following in one-half to two hours of acute tympanites 
or metonsm. If seen in time the animal can be relieved by tap¬ 
ping, when after the escape of the gas the animal gets well in a 
very short time. I do not believe that any other germ except 
the bacteria of fermentation could be the cause of the production 
of this gas, and the fact that the tapping and the escape of the 
gas left the animal well in such a short time is proof enough that 
this is not a pathogenic bacterial disease. Acute indigestion 
and gastritis, with or without engorgement, with metastasis to 
the brain through reflex nervous action, is a frequent occurrence 
in the stalk fields, and I believe that neither the Burrill-Billings 
bacillus nor saltpetre have anything to do with it. 
Both horses and cattle are liable to overload themselves if 
allowed to have free access to the stalkfields, especially when 
first turned into the field ; cases of engorgement of this kind 
are often followed by paralysis and death, especially in cows. 
Now, regarding saltpetre poisoning, the question is : Is it pos¬ 
sible that the corn-plant can absorb such an abnormal amount 
of saltpetre, even if the ground upon which it grows should 
happen to be very rich in saltpetre ? The statistics of chemical 
analysis of the composition of various plants are regarded as 
facts by which we can determine the amount of the various 
kinds of food, and in what proportion they should be supplied, 
in order to get a certain result. 
