Observations on the Disease of the Coir, S^-c. 251 
nothing by the addition of the term either of the symptoms or 
nature of the malady. 
It was not until 1836 that an effectual effort was made to 
get rid even of the name of Puerperal fever, then so generally 
applied, and also of the disease being of an inflammatory nature. 
In that year an animated discussion took place in the Veterinary 
Medical Association, when the late Mr. Youatt stated that his 
opinion of the nature of the disease had undergone a change, 
and that he took strong objections to the name of Puerperal 
fever. Many of the speakers nevertheless defended both the 
name and the inflammatory theory, while others considered the 
digestive organs as being chiefly implicated. Some spoke of 
the secretion of milk being arrested, but only one or two drew 
attention to the evident derangement of the nervous system. The 
most definite opinion, however, of the nervous system being 
chiefly involved, was at that time expressed by the late Mr. 
Friend, of Walsall, who, in a communication to the ' Veteri- 
narian,' wrote as follows : " I consider the disease to be one 
originating in the organic motor nerves." The dim light which 
^as thus shed on the pathology of the malady was, however, 
only discerned by a few practitioners, and for three or four years 
longer the pages of the ' Veterinarian ' continued to be occupied 
with conflicting opinions, both on the propriety of the name and 
the pathology of the malady. Progress, however, was made ; 
and in 1840 the writer of the present paper went beyond many 
members of the profession who even regarded the nervous 
system as principally involved, and expressly stated that such 
derangement depended entirely on an apoplectic condition of the 
brain and spinal cord. 
Experience has shown the correctness of this view of the 
pathology of the disease, and hence the appropriateness of 
the name. Parturient apoplexy. 
Susceptibility. — No animal of the farm except the cow is 
the subject of the malady, although all are liable to be attacked 
with inflammatory and other diseases at the period of parturi- 
tion. Even with cows, all are not equally predisposed to par- 
turient apoplexy, young being less so than aged. Heifers 
producing their first calf when about two years and a half old 
may be regarded as altogether insusceptible, and the same may 
be said with reference to their second calving, as a rule. Succeed- 
ing labours, however, are attended with greater danger even up 
to the time that the cow may be rightly designated an old one. 
Potent for evil as advanced age undoubtedly is, it cannot, never- 
theless, be afhrmed that the oldest animals will be attacked, for 
daily experience proves that many a middle-aged cow will fall a 
victim to the disease, although there are older animals in the 
same herd. The capability of a cow to yield a large quantity 
