2 
January 18th. 
The President, Dr. Newberry, in the chair. Thirty per- - 
sons present. 
The following paper was read. 
Chemical and Mycological Examination of the Blood and Urine of 
Diseased Horses during the late Epizootic. 
By HERMAN ENDEMANN, Pu. D. 
It will be remembered, that at the end of September, 1872, 
a disease of an epizootic character made its appearance in 
Canada, whence it spread rapidly over the whole Union, and 
thence to adjoining southern countries. At the beginning of 
April, 1873, reports were received, that it continued its 
journey towards Central America, and that many towns of 
Mexico were infected. 
The first cases were found in New York on the 19th of 
October, 1872; in a few days nine-tenths of all the horses in 
the city were affected. 
The main symptoms were, coughing, discharge of a 
purulent mucus from the nostrils, and extreme prostration, 
increasing with the time of affection. The discharge of 
urine was considerably impaired. Post-mortem examina- 
tions showed, that the bronchiz were also filled with the 
same purulent mucus which flowed from the nostrils; and 
in many cases, the lungs and kidneys were found to be 
considerably affected. 
The samples of blood and urine which I examined, were 
mostly taken from sick animals, which were killed at the 
dock of the New York Rendering Company. Extreme care 
was taken in the cleaning and disinfection of the glass jars 
used for the reception of these samples, as with them not 
only a chemical but also a mycological examination was to 
be undertaken. 
The blood was in all cases dark colored, even if drawn 
from the aorta or the carotid arteries. It was uniformly 
found to contain a large excess of extractive matter and fat, 
which might have been caused by an inactivity of such 
organs as the kidneys or lungs, by an excessive decomposi- 
tion or fermentation of healthy blood-constituents in the 
blood itself, or by an over-abundant action of the liver. 
