108 SPECIAL EQUINE THERAPY 



toxic poison, often nothing more than absolute quiet) 

 can exist is beyond my comprehension. 



I can appreciate a form of toxemia violent and active 

 enough to bring on an attack of azoturia ; but my entire 

 professional judgment rebels against the acceptance of 

 the second factor, namely, the spontaneous cessation of 

 activity of a toxemia, or a toxin, so active. We cannot 

 believe in the theory of a toxemia as the excitant in the 

 disease if we have thoroughly mastered the fundamentals 

 of certain branches in the study of veterinary science! 

 And stiU less can we accept this theory when we fully 

 understand the disease, and when we endeavor to make 

 the theory fit the condition as we know it. 



The "mechanical theory" elaborated by us has not 

 been born in idle speculation. It is the result of a care- 

 ful weeding out of other theories, and diligent study of 

 azoturia from a clinical standpoint. The theory is the 

 [result of the interlocking understanding of a theory- 

 1 forming, finely-tuned physician's brain and the more 

 Imaterialistic, hard-headed, veterinary judgment. 



I give it here as it appeared in the issue of the Journal 

 already mentioned. 



"Our theory is, and our success with the treatment 

 based on this theory proves its soundness, that the con- 

 dition is a mechanical one entirely, if we may use the 

 word in this sense. We mean by this that toxins, en- 

 zymes, bacteria, ferments or extraneous forces of any 

 nature whatsoever have no hand in the production of this 

 disease. 



"The theory which nearly every veterinarian with 

 whom we discussed this suggested as the most plausible 

 was that azoturia is a toxemia. In the summing up given 

 below we make special mention of this to show how the 

 symptoms in certain stages of this disease absolutely 

 exclude toxemia as a cause of azoturia. To come to the 



