WHOLESALE  LEAD  POISONING. 
369 
those  who  have  suffered  can  form  any  idea  of  the  horrors,  the 
inward  fires  which  Avere  consuming  the  patients,  or  the  agoniz- 
ing cramps  that  contracted  every  muscle  of  their  weakened 
frames. 
Fortunately,  the  bakers  of  the  place  had  purchased  their  flour 
from  the  Western  States,  or  the  disease  would  have  spread  to  a 
much  greater  extent.  Many  of  the  grocers,  as  well  as  private 
families,  were  in  the  habit  of  receiving  their  supplies  regularly 
from  the  mill,  and,  of  course,  all  who  used  them  were  afflicted. 
To-day,  I  have  visited  most  of  the  leading  physicians  here, 
and  append  a  tabular  statement  of  the  number  of  cases  treated 
by  each  from  the  middle  of  March  to  the  present  time : — 
Dr.  Smiley,  about  ...  30 
Dr.  Wright,  about  ...  45 
Dr.  Darrance    ....  40 
Dr.  Everett  51 
Dr.  Johnson      ....  38 
Dr.  Bradner  (severe)  .    .      9  Total  21b 
This  only  includes  the  region  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of' 
Middleton,  and  does  not  embrace  Goshen  and  its  environs ;  bxtt 
I  am  informed  that  there  have  been  over  100  cases  in  that 
neighborhood.  One  of  the  sad  cases  here  is  that  of  Col.  Wick- 
ham,  Justice  of  the  Peace,  and  his  wife.  He  will  probably  never 
recover  fully  from  the  effects,  and  Mrs.  Wickam,  who  has  for  a 
long  time  been  in  delicate  health,  is  wasting  away  to  the  grave 
under  the  influence  of  this  frightful  poison.  A  well-known  em- 
ploye of  the  Erie  Railroad  Company  has  died  from  its  effects. 
A  child  of  Dr.  Johnson  has  also  died.  This  case  was  a  very 
peculiar  one.  It  appears  that  the  child  had  been  fed  upon  the 
milk  of  a  new  milch  cow,  which  usually  gave  14  quarts  of  milk 
daily.  About  two  months  ago,  the  child  was  affected  strangely, 
but  at  the  time  nothing  was  thought  of  its  symptoms.  About 
this  time,  the  milk  began  to  fail,  and  no  cause  could  be  assigned. 
Dr.  Johnson  partook  freely  of  gruel  made  from  the  milk  of  this 
cow  and  meal  prepared  at  Marsh's  mill.  After  taking  it,  he 
vomited  copiously,  but  did  not  charge  it  to  the  gruel.  The  child  I 
being  fond  of  the  gruel,  it  was  given  to  her,  and,  after  eating  it, 
she  was  seized  with  convulsions  at  intervals,  and,  despite  all  the 
medical  skill  employed,  died.  The  meal  was  lead-poisoned,  and 
so  was  the  milk,  for  the  cow  was  fed  upon  feed  ground  at  Marsh's 
24 
