( 169 ) 
VII. — Report on the Pathological Anatomy of Pleuro-pneumonia. 
By Geeald F. Yeo, Professor of Physiology in King's 
College, London. 
Introduction. 
The difficulties which present themselves in attempting to study 
the pathological anatomy of the diseases of cattle are increased 
in the case of pleuro-pneumonia by the legal restrictions which 
compel the slaughter of beasts affected with it. In most instances 
the animals are slaughtered suddenly, by order of the authori- 
ties, allowing no time for notice to be sent so as to enable one 
to reach the scene of action. It is therefore only by means of 
the combined kindness of a number of disinterested persons 
that a post-mortem examination can ever be witnessed, and then 
only at the expense of much time and trouble spent in reaching 
some remote locality. Moreover, the inspection of the autopsy 
but poorly repays the personal inconvenience which must be 
gone through in order to attend it, for the slaughter and evis- 
ceration of the animal must always be conducted by some prac- 
tised operator, whose dexterity depends upon his rigidly adhering 
to a certain methodical system, which is not framed with a view 
to pathological investigation. The necessary operations are 
performed with such skill and rapidity, that no time is allowed 
for the pathologist to contemplate the relative position of the 
morbid parts, or to reflect on the possible pathogenic relation 
which one may bear to another. 
It is a well recognised fact that in order to make a description 
of the pathological anatomy of any disease at all adequate, or 
of scientific value, all the viscera should be examined in every 
case, so that the most trivial abnormality may be noted. In the 
lung disease of cattle this may be regarded as impossible. Be- 
sides the difficulty of attending the slaughter of the beast, the 
enormous bulk of the material — the diseased lungs alone often 
weighing 30 lbs. — in the majority of cases renders the thorough 
investigation of all the viscera quite out of the question. 
Fortunately, in pleuro-pneumonia this does not seem at all 
necessary, because the abdominal organs do not present any 
changes which can be looked upon as either constant or 
characteristic of the affection. 
The nervous centres have never been examined, because it is 
necessary, the instant the animal is knocked down, to destroy 
the spinal cord and the brain, so as to prevent the energetic 
reflex movements of the limbs which would otherwise accom- 
pany the skinning, and prove dangerous to the operators. 
