NO. 18. 



THE FARMERS CABINET. 



277 



ensue. He moreover knows, that the blood 

 which circulates through the horn, must be 

 warm blood, — lliat it must impart warmth 

 to the parts ihrougii which it passes, — or if 

 the external cold is so great as to prevent this 

 warmthfthe bluod must cease to circu/ute,and the 

 part 7nust die. Therefore, if the horn becomes 

 cold, it rnusi become dead, and when dead, it 

 mt<st exfoliate, and drop off. 



"A Subscriber" will of course demur to 

 all this, by saying that as the pith wastes, the 

 circulation is diminished, and consequently 

 the temperature is reduced. For he says 

 "we understand the hollow horn, according 

 to Dr. Willich, to be a disease, which gradu- 

 ally wastes the internal substance of the horn, 

 commonly called the pith." This frank 

 avowal of his creed, brings us at once to the 

 very pit/i of the controversy — does the pith of 

 the horn waste — yea or nay ? I have said in a 

 former number, that "such a wasting of the 

 pith docs not take place; — I challenge those 

 who think otherwise to produce the horn, so 

 wasted." " A Subscriber" says "I am in a 

 situation to see thousands of horns extracted 

 from the hides of cattle annually,iive per cent, 

 of which I would lay, are said to be from 

 cattle dying of hollow horn." Five per cent, 

 on tlie smallest number, (2,000) would give 

 one hundred hollow horns, brought under his 

 inspection every year. Possessing such 

 ample materials, why does he not accept my 

 challenge, — why does he not immediately pro- 

 duce the horn; — yea a hundred horns in sup- 

 port of his opinion? — If he possessed such a 

 horn, would he not have produced it? If he 

 had ever seen such a horn, would he not have 

 told us? His failure to do so '* indicates more 

 speculation, than knowledge of facts,''^ and 

 leads me to suppose that in younger life, he 

 may have formed his " opinion with less evi 

 dence, than what was required by Thomas of 

 old." He however, says, " I ask him (Ob- 

 server) to look at the horn he has described 

 under the head of Putrid Horn, &c." And 

 then adds, "here is an admission of all that 

 is necessary. If inflammation produces bony 

 ulceration or caries, the discharge will, of 

 course, be the substance which constituted the 

 inside of the horn. If this bony substance or 

 pith, becomes rotten, (which is the definition 

 of caries) and is discharged, the pith is then 

 out of the horn, and not in it, and consequently 

 the horn is hollow in the sense in which we 

 understand the question. Here, " A Sub- 

 scriber," " labours very ingenuously," to 

 make an "admission of all that is necessary," 

 for me. But I cannot admit such an admis- 

 sion. 1 have not said, — nor do I believe that 

 inflammation of the membranes, lining the 

 cavities of the head and horns, does produce 

 bony ulceration. The horn is liable to caries, 

 in common with all other bony structures, 



but 1 have yet to learn that it is more so than 

 other spongy bones. Aware that inflammation 

 may soinetimcs extend to the subjacent bone, 

 and even produce caries, I used the language 

 which " A Subscriber" has quoted ; — " If 

 (i. c. give, grant, allow, or admit the fact 

 that) the inflammation assumes a more violent 

 form, and extends to the bones, producing 

 bony ulceration," &c. But I do not admit 

 the fact, because I have never seen it do so, 

 — because I have not found a well authen- 

 ticated instance, among my friends where it 

 has done so, — and because the wide field of 

 ''A Subscriber's,"observationsdoes not appear 

 to have furnished a single case of the kind. 



The question, at last, can only be settled 

 by an examination of tlie horns, and on the 

 evidence which they afford. What then 

 would be the appearances of caries or ulcera- 

 tion of the pith ! — If the pitii was entirely 

 wasted, the horn having lost its support, would 

 either fall off spontaneously, or hang dang- 

 ling by its attachment to the skin. In this 

 case there could be no mistake. — It would 

 afford " A Subscriber" a full opportunity of 

 "seeing, feeling, and knowing that the fact is 

 so." But has he, or any other person ever 

 met with such a case? — Has he met with 

 one such instance, out of the multitude of his 

 observations? — As such extreme cases may 

 be somewhat rare, I will consider the disease, 

 in its earlier stage, when the pith is only 

 partially wasted. It would appear from the 

 expression used by Dr. Tofts, that the wast- 

 ing commences at the tip, and progresses 

 toward the root. Hence at any stage of its 

 progress, we might expect to find more or 

 less of the end of the pith wanting, and the 

 stump would put on the appearance of a 

 carious bone. Instead of a smooth, even 

 surface, covered by the periosteum, it would 

 present a naked, irregular, ragged, spongy 

 face, of a dark color, and emitting a putrid 

 smell. Or if any should look into the cavity 

 of the pith, for the seat of the ulceration, they 

 would find the same general appearances 

 there, — for they attend all ulcers in bones. 

 Will " A Subscriber" be kind enough to in- 

 form us how many such piths he has seen, 

 during the (twenty?) years of his experi- 

 ence ? — As he has not given a single " fact" 

 to support his "speculations,"! will again 

 put the question ; — what tanner ever found a 

 iiorn from which the pith was cither partially, 

 or entirely wasted in the manner described. 



I rejoice that one who possesses such ample 

 means, has resolved to "examine the subject 

 in future, more practically, and transmit the 

 result of his investigations to the Cabinet." 

 And if he will cease to " hug up old errors, 

 and love them better than new truths," — if 

 he will lay aside his " speculations " and seek 

 only a "knowledge of facts," he will soon 



