ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. 
Microscoricat ResearcHes on the CattLte PLAGUE. 
By Dr. Lionex Bratz, F.R.S., &c. 
In the third report of the Cattle Plague Commissioners 
Dr. Beale’s observations bear particularly upon the facts of 
diseased conditions in general, and open out in a very special 
manner what may be called tissue actions as contradistin- 
guished from blood alterations. Dr. Beale’s researches, if true 
in their inferential aspect, must very materially modify pre- 
sent pathological notions as to the nature of fevers and in- 
flammatory conditions. Dr. Beale takes as his starting- 
point the congested state of the capillary vessels so constantly 
seen in rinderpest, and proceeds to show that as this is 
*“by no means uniform in all different textures, or of equal 
degree in every part of the same tissue, while the capillaries 
of some organs (those between the uriniferous tubules of 
the kidney, those of the lobules of the liver, those of the 
mammary, and probably some other glands) are not as 
much congested as they are often found in healthy animals 
killed suddenly, it cannot be referred to any general impedi- 
ment in the circulation ;’ but, on the other hand, the con- 
gestion would seem to have a local origin, for there are patches 
of various sizes, but distinctly separated from one another by 
uncongested, or only slightly congested, portions of tissue 
.. the patches are of an intensely dark red colour, of cir- 
cular form, as though the congestion had commenced at and 
radiated from a central spot. The result of the congestion is 
VOL. VII.—NEW SER. L 
