Gold in Sheep's Heads.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVI, Issue 221, 22 September 1904, Page 4

Gold in Sheep's Heads.

REirARKAHLE I'ISCOVEUV IN LONDON.

DOCTOR'S CHANCE FIND. (Daily Mail.) Somewhere on the vast grazing ph.ins of Australia tJ r New Zealand I farmers are feeding their flocks of sheep on pasture so auriferous that the very animals &how traces of the outcrop of gold in their teeth. That, at least, seems to be the inference to be derived from evidence which comes, not from the Antipodes in the news of a, fresh " strike" of gold, but from the vast centre of teeming population in the East End of London known as Hethmal Green. In Bethnal Greon sheep's heads are a luxury, even though they invariably are frozen imports from Australia and New Zealand. To a medical man, Mr R. G. Style, practising in the Roman Road, UeUinal Green, is due the credit of making the discovery. A few days ago he was in the house of a friend, a member of the local council, whan he picked up the jawbone of a sheep which had been picked clean by the councillor's doig. It was only an idle act, to tease the dog, but the doctor noticed a dull gleam of a bronze colour on the teeth.

"Why, that looks like gold," lie said, after examining the teeth closely. They 'glistened dully with a coating of metallic substance which shone above the blackening caused by the saliva- The councillol, who had enjoytd the sheep's head for supper the previous night:, was genially sceptical. But the doctor removed the teeth, which had been loosened by the dog, took them to his surgery, and tested the deposit or coating with aquafortis. That gave the result as pure gold. JEWELLER'S TEST. Next the teetih were taken to a jeweller, who scraped off the metal and submitted it to all testa known. The substance was then guaranteed to be pure, fine gold. The place of origin of the sheep's head was easily traced—to a conti-, ,ient, at any rate. It was purchased of a local butcher, who bought it with many others in Smithfield Market. They had come, in a frozen .'itate, from Australia to New Zealand. Even in Smithfield it is difficult to trace the exact country of origin, for tho heads come over separately from the frozen carcases, and are collected from vast areas.

Other sheeps' heads were purchased at random from Bethnal Green purveyors, and some of them exhibited traces of gold deposit on the teeth iu just the same way. They had all arrived from the Antipodes. English and Scottish sheep's heads were obtained, but there was no trace of any auriferous deposit. Investigating the strange story, a representative of the Daily Mail Called upon Mr William Tyler, of the Duke of Wellington Inn, Three Colts Lane, Bethnal Green .Junction. Mr Tyler's family had supped off sheep's head, and the jaw ibones, with the teeth still firmly set in them, were luckily found. It came from an Antipodean sheep, and on all the teeth, both of the uppeir and lower jaws, was a tannish deposit of dull metal. It was on the teeth themselves, and not dn the interstices, or one would have said, ludicrously enough, that the animal had been attended to by .a» American dentist. A THEORY. The metal could be planed off easily enough with a penknife, and it was ill appreciable quantities. Only one test was available a t the moment, and that was with the publican's solution with which all suspicious coins are tested when handed across the bar. It is invaluable to the licen. e holder, especially in the East End of London, because the slightest diop indicates base metal by turning it black. This solution had no effect at all upon the deposit on the sheep's teeth. The metal remained the same.

Mr Tyler says that for a year or two he has occasionally noticed a bronze coating on the teeth of sheep's heads" in the same way. Dr. Style's theory is that somewhere in the Antipodes the s'teep are being grazed on soil so rich in alluvial gold that in short-cropping the grass their teeth, by constantly coming in contact with the outcrop, gradually receive a deposit of pure gold. There, for the moment, t-ht matter must be left, until further investigations can 'be made.