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"Climatic disturbances such as want of rain, excess of humidity or damp, cloudy weather, and extreme
and unnaturally high temperature are said to cause jowar to become poisonous. It is remarked in the Dictionary
that it will be observed from the foregoing remarks already offered as to whether due to the presence of an
insect or to some physiological change in the growth of the plant, owing to climatic disturbances the jowar
stems are not always liable to cause injury to cattle. The occurrence of the poisonous property (as it had
been called) is simultaneous over a large tract of country, appearing and disappearing within certain fixed
limits of time. The inference is therefore unavoidable that the stems have been affected or altered in
some way."
Jowar is mostly grown on highlands as a kharif crop, and is only very oc-
casionally irrigated. It is dependant on the rains for its moisture. A de-
lay of the rain, or an unusually high temperature which withers up and stunts
the jowar, is necessary for the production of the change in properties which
causes it to become poisonous.
During my tour of last year, I found mentioned in every part of the
Punjab which I visited that this was a very fatal malady, the nature of which
I could not ascertain, as it was not possible to see cases of it, the year not been
a suitable one. Owing to failure of the rains and the prevalence of high tem-
perature this year, however, I have been able to see animals which have
succumbed to the disease, as well as those the subjects to it.
Certain points regarding the matter struck me. It appeared that the
plant only gave rise to the poisonous symptoms when it had been stunted
and withered up to some extent owing to the failure of rain when it had
grown to a certain height; this did away with the tympanites theory, for
the plant would not in these conditions be in a state in which it is so likely
to undergo fermentation as when it contained more moisture. Another
point noticed was the rapidity with which the symptoms developed and led
to a fatal termination, death being almost apoplectiform in some cases and
the majority of the animals attacked dying very rapidly, too rapidly for tym-
panites. The people also told me that a crop of the plant which had become
stunted and poisonous, lost its poisonous properties if heavy rain fell. Tak-
ing all these points into consideration and looking to the symptoms shown
by the affected animals, I came to the conclusion that death might be ascrib-
ed to the action of an irritant poison causing acute gastro enteritis and
causing marked alteration in the blood. What this poison might be how-
ever, was a difficult problem to solve, as 1 was led off the line by thinking
it was probably either an alkaloid or a poisonous mould. On inspection of
the dried jowar which had been given to the animals dead, I was much surprised,
on breaking open the stalks to find a very considerable quantity of a white
salt deposited in crystals in the pith, more especially at the nodes. The
taste of the salt was cooling and saline, very like Nitrate of Potash. On
burning the piece of the stalk there was marked crepitation. I collected
some of the stalks and a chemical examination revealed the fact that the
salt was indeed Nitrate of Potash. The quantity of this salt present in the
stems was so considerable, 25 %, that there was no doubt in my mind that
this was the cause of the deaths of the cattle which had been fed on it.
At the last Sirsa Fair a number of deaths were caused by poisonous jowar
and Veterinary Assistant Hakikat Rai, to whom I had mentioned the fact of
animals being killed by the development of Nitrate of Potash in jowar stems,
found that the jowar was in the same condition as that which I had previously
examined. A small bundle of the plant was sent to me for opinion, and this
I have had carefully analysed by an analytical chemist in Bombay who reports
as follows:—
ANALYTICAL DEPARTMENT.
VICTORIA HOUSE,
Bombay.
552. I have made a chemical analysis of a sample of jowar (sorghum vul-
gare) and find that the same contains Nitrate of Potash to the extent of about 75
grains per ounce weight of the plant. This proportion refers to the bulk sam-
ple given me by Veterinary Captain Pease, but the salt is very unevenly distri-
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