On the Organs in Which Lead Accumulates in the Horse, in Cases of Slow Poisoning by That Metal

Abstract

The destruction of animal life, which yearly results from the mismanagement of chemical works, in rural places, is probably greater than is generally imagined. Within the short space of five months last year, I had occasion to make a series of analyses in connection with the death of thirteen horses, which, besides several cows, were believed to have been poisoned by compounds of lead, transferred by the atmosphere or by water to the fields in which they pastured. How far the conclusion was just, which imputed the death of all those animals to lead-poisoning, I cannot pretend to decide, as analyses were made in connection only with some of the cases; but as I found that the herbage which the animals ate was notably impregnated with carbonate of lead, it is highly probable that all the deaths were occasioned by this poison. Such, moreover, appears to have been the opinion of those who had the greatest pecuniary interest in holding an opposite view ; for the proprietors of the lead-works, after some little delay, declined going into a court of law, and compensated the owners of the deceased horses. Eleven of the cases in question occurred in Derbyshire, and two in Westmoreland. The special object of the present paper is to state the results of the analyses made in connection with the cases in Westmoreland. They were brought under my notice by Mr Mayor of Penrith, an intelligent veterinary surgeon, who had charge of the animals. From him I learn that the horses?a brood mare and