268 THE NATURE AND TREATMENT OP 



sonorous vibration, produces a sound, the tone of which is 



peculiar to itself, and every change which takes place in the 



composition of that substance, or in the arrangement of its 



component parts, is accompanied by a corresponding change 



in its tone. If we strike a solid body, it emits a solid sound ; 



strike an empty one, and it emits a hollow sound. In like 



manner, if we strike a healthy horn, we get a sound of hol- 



lowness. When the horn and frontal sinuses are occupied by 



matter, we elicit a dull sound without vibration. The difference 



between the sound elicited from an empty barrel and that from 



a full one, or the sound from a solid post and that from a hollow 



one, when struck with a hammer, is not more remarkable than 



in the cases of healthy and diseased horns. By the same 



means we diagnose diseases of the chest. We are, therefore 



enabled, with absolute certainty, to determine the presence oi 



pus within the horns. And keeping in view the history oi 



the case which it is our business to inquire into, we can gener 



ally tell whether or not such abscesses result from local injurjr 



or disease within the parts, or if it be the sequence of some 



other disease, and thus regulate our treatment accordingly. 



In regard to the treatment of an abscess located in the region 



of the base of the horns, the proper method is to trephine the 



skull, which operation can only be performed by a veterinary 



surgeon. 



TAIL- AIL. 



In view of sustaining the respectability of veterinary science 

 and my own professional reputation, I would inform the readei 

 that tail-ail is an imaginary disease, appearing only in lo- 

 calities which the apostles of true veterinary science have 

 never visited. The supposed affection is said to induce partial 

 or complete paralysis of the hinder extremities, and, contrary 

 to the principles of science and the testimony of several vet- 

 erinary writers, this condition is often termed tail-ail. The 

 faulty theory is: — a soft spot is found at the end of the tail 

 (this is a feature of every healthy cow's tail, when it has not 

 been docked), which takes the strength out of her back, and 

 produces paralysis. The remedy is, either to amputate the 



