Note 802 — PART IX.—INORGANIC POISONS. (continued 2)

There has long prevailed an idea (the truth of which is doubtful) that antimony given to animals improves their condition; thus, the Encyclop. Brit., 5th ed., art. “Antimony”:—“A horse that is lean and scrubby, and not to be fatted by any means, will become fat on taking a dose of antimony every morning for two months together. A boar fed for brawn, and having an ounce of antimony given him every morning, will become fat a fortnight sooner than others put into the stye at the same time, and fed in the same manner, but without the antimony.” Probably the writer means by the term antimony the impure sulphide. To this may be added the undoubted fact, that in Brunswick the breeders of fat geese add a small quantity of antimonious oxide to the food, as a traditional custom.