138 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Jury, 1901. 
Dr. Maxwer4 (Director of the Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations): I 
am interested in this subject, and shall tell you specifically why. When I was 
a chemist working in the laboratory of the Agricultural Institutiou in Switzer- 
land, a similar question came up, and that was with regard to the use of eotton- 
seed meal in the feeding of cattle. It was found that young cattle were 
affected by the use of cotton-seed meal or cake. When I was on my father’s 
farm in England, I had charge of the feeding of the cattle, and when T became 
a chemist | had occasion to examine into the causes of this so-called poison of 
cotton-seed meal. We took the thing up thoroughly, the matter being placed — 
in my hands, and we discovered in this cotton-seed meal an actual poison. 
There were several examples in which calves, ranging up to the age of six — 
months, succumbed to the use of an excessive quantity of cotton-seed meal, — 
and it was due to this poison, which we were able to separate. It was a white — 
substance. We tried it on rabbits, and the effect was fatal. We therefore, by 
chemical means, actually separated and demonstrated the cause of the 
poisoning. The result of the examination was that we stopped feeding, in — 
anything like large quantities, cotton-seed meal to young cattle. I may say, 
further, that the action of the same material upon the systems of older cattle 
is this: During the first two or three days it causes scouring. ‘They ran out 
very freely. The stuff passes through the system, which, in the case of 
the older cattle, accommodates itself to the poison and there are no further — 
effects. I would suggest at this point to you not to go upon surmises, but 
upon matters upon which you can be definite. Submit the material to gentle- 
men competent to determine its constituents. The Department of Agriculture 
has such servants at your service. Come down to facts, and then you will get 
results. The opinions of men are all equally good until we come to demon- 
stration, and then they may be bad. No man’s opinion is better than another's 
until it is investigated. You may find that in the sorghum plant, at a given 
age, there is a poison present which is the result of physiological processes 
going on in growth. At« further stage that poison may be converted into 
actual food nutriment. These are things which we can determine, and no 
longer go upon mere surmises. Submit the matter to the Department of 
Agriculture for its investigation, and possibly you may receive results which 
will be as valuable in this case as the results were in the case of the cotton-_ 
seed meal to which I have referred. This sorghum poisoning is not a matter 
for conjecture, but for investigation and proof. 
The Hon. D. H. Datrympte: Judging from what has fallen from the 
meeting, this question is one of very deep interest, and I think Mr. Coulson is 
entitled to the thanks of all present for bringing it forward. Up to the present 
time it has been assumed that, while it is® admitted without dispute that the 
influence of certain foods is exceedingly deleterious at particular times—while 
the result of feeding cattle with succulent forage has been known to be fatal 
in many instances, the causes are exceedingly obscure, and no successful attempt 
to determine them hasever been made. This matter has been under investigation 
by the Agricultural Department; chemical analyses have been made whichhaye not — 
been successful in determining any poison. The Government Botanist has 
been unable to throw any light upon the problem. ‘The opinion of a practical 
scientist, who has graduated in some of the highest schools and whose attain- 
ments are singular, has just been given to us, and I say that the value of his — 
presence upon the present occasion has heen fully shown. I think we have | 
never had that which was previonsly obscure—had, as it were, a flashlight — 
of luminosity turned upon it as has now been done by Dr. Maxwell. With | 
regard to the resolution, which | understand is to be referred to the Resolu- 
tions Committee, dealing with this question, I may say that, no matter what | 
happens in the Committee, I can promise you the matter will be referred to the — 
Agricultural Department to begin with, and I shall certainly invite Dr. | 
Maxwell to contribute his experience and his high scientific knowledge to ) 
the determination of this very serious problem. I shall merely say, in passing, _ 
with regard to swine fever that it seems to be a disease for which there is _ 
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