_Causes._ The growth of =moulds= on or in brewer’s grains, which have been preserved without salting and close packing, has at times rendered them dangerous poisons (Duvieusart, Wehenkel, Schütz). The refuse or marc of beet sugar factories, or of cider works may act in a similar manner. These products, at first neutral or only slightly acid, undergo an acid fermentation, with an abundant production of acetic, lactic or butyric acid which adds materially to their action in deranging digestion. These agents usually require a large amount to prove deleterious, about 150 to 200 lbs. a day. Arloing found three active microbian ferments in the pulp of the sugar factories, and four in that of the distilleries. The marc of apples has even caused abortion (Cornevin). =Spoiled potatoes= have caused adynamic enteritis, with vertigo and paralysis (Zimmermann, Grabin, Holme) and in sheep symptoms of nephritis and cystitis as well (Kloss). =Mouldy bread= has been found to cause indigestion and cerebral disturbances in cows (Cagny) or nervous disorders without digestive, urinary or febrile trouble (Fröhner, Martin and Varnell). =Mildew= on the leaves of a grapevine has also poisoned six cows (Bisseauge). =Musty= grain and fodder has the same general action as on the horse and produces paraplegia and other nervous disorders with or without digestive troubles. The =isaria fuciformis= has caused the death of cattle which ate the grasses infested by it. When we come to the ergots and smuts we find even more evidence of poisoning than in the horse. Toward the end of our long winters in the Northern States we occasionally find widespread =gangrenous ergotism= from eating infested hay, the lesions varying from simple sores around the top of the hoofs, in the interdigital spaces or on the teats and mouth, to loosening of part of the sole or wall, shedding of the entire hoof or sloughing of the entire limb—just above the hoof, at the fetlock, or in the metatarsal region. Portions of the tail or ears will similarly slough. This appears to be mainly due to the lessening of the calibre of the capillaries by contraction of their walls, under the action of the ergotin and secalin, seconded by the cold of the season. Cold is, however, by no means essential to its production. The other most common form of ergotism is the action on the nervous system. The contraction of the cerebral capillaries and disturbance of the circulation lead in some cases to a condition of lethargy and apathy in which the animal fails to eat or ruminate and gradually falls into marasmus, or paralysis may be induced, or delirium and spasms. Then finally there is the familiar form of abortion induced apparently by the contraction of the involuntary muscles of the womb and of its capillary vessels.