448 ON FARCY. 



tically difproved notion, that cow-pox origi- 

 nates in the greafe of horfes ; a notion, of the 

 abfurdity of which I had an early occafion to 

 fpeak in the Medical Journal ; but v/ithout in- 

 tending the flighteft refleftion on the rcfpefta- 

 ble and patriotic Jenner, who fo well merits 

 the gratitude and remuneration of his country. 

 With regard to the affair of the pigeons' milk, 

 they who keep dairies of that fpecies, well 

 know, that the milk proceeds from the (techni- 

 cally) foft ineatj which, from inflinft, the pi- 

 geons prepare in their crops, feveral^ days pre- 

 vioufly to their period of hatching. 



That .the" innoculated virus of farcy fhould 

 have produced fymptomatic glanders, can ex- 

 cite no furprize in thofe, who previoufly knew, 

 both that the difeafe is infectious, and that a 

 glanderous difcharge from the nofe is an occa- 

 lional concomitant,, and a very common termi- 

 nation of an inveterate farcy. If a bare affi- 

 nity in the family of difeafes were to conftitute 

 identity, it vrould, in truth, much retrench the 

 compafs of nofology, and render ufelefs a great 

 part of the labours of the iUuffrious Cullen. I 

 have feen and conffdered much on the glanders 

 and farcy, and am thoroughly convinced of 

 having Vv^itneifed an inffance of the latter, in an 

 human fabje6l. The ancient Romans knew 

 this difeafe m horfes, and from them we derive 

 the name. I believe a ffmilar caufe, obftru6lion 



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