Some Observations on Parturition Fever in Ruminants. 607 
the non-recognition of its truly septic infectious character, its 
capability of origin both from auto-infection and from extrinsic 
agents connected with putrefactive changes in animal matter, 
that so much difficulty is ordinarily encountered in combating 
its ravages. 
So long as such influences as purely meteorological or dietetic 
conditions are chiefly regarded as the inducing agencies, so 
long shall we wander aimlessly in our efforts to prevent its 
occurrence, or fail in attempts to arrest its progress when fairly 
established. 
2. Management of the actually Diseased. — Parturient fever, 
although occasionally assuming a lingering form, is usually a 
condition of much activity and virulence, while in no case can 
we approximately determine which cases shall be delayed in 
progress. Any treatment, therefore, which may be determined 
upon requires to be carried out energetically. As the pro- 
babilities are great that the entrance of deleterious matter has 
occurred through wounds of the parturient passages, we ought 
at once to direct our attention to the condition of these, in order 
to control or minimise, as far as we are able, the amount of 
poisonous material passed in this way into the system. We 
know that a moderate amount of putrid and unwholesome matter 
may, by the inherent strength of the system, be neutralised, or 
eliminated from the body, and the damaging effects of its in- 
troduction overcome ; but if regular accessions of such matter 
are kept steadily passing into the blood, the vital energy and 
power of neutralisation are certain to be destroyed, and 
septiccemic poisoning to ensue. 
That the steady supply of poisonous material and its entrance 
into the circulation are always favoured by the local tissue- 
changes and putrefaction which take place in connection with 
these lesions, seems highly probable ; while from experimenta- 
tion we are led to believe that the local and general use of 
certain agents delays or arrests the progress of these tissue- 
changes, as well as retards the absorption of puriform matters. 
If such antiseptic agents as have already been mentioned have 
not been employed as preventives, their use as local curative 
agents is now indicated. These may be employed somewhat as 
already indicated, both as materials for vagino-uterine injections, 
and in proportions rather larger as ointments or liniments. 
Besides the local use of these agents, I have in several instances 
believed that good has resulted from their employment inter- 
nally, and alternated with sulphite or hypo-sulphite of soda. Of 
these antiseptics the best for internal use are carbolic or salicylic 
acid. The former may be employed in doses of from thirty 
minims to one drachm, in water and glycerine, the latter of from 
