221 
CENTRAL VETERINARY MEDICAL SOCIETY. 
OFFICIAL REPORT. 
An ordinary General Meeting of the above Society was held on 
Thursday, February 9th, 1871 ; the President, George Fleming, 
Esq., F.R.G.S., M.R.C.Y.S., in the chair. After the disposal of 
the usual preliminaries, Messrs. F. J. Stanley, H. Lawrence, and F. 
W. Wragg, having been recently admitted Fellows of the Society, 
were formally presented by the President. 
A number of morbid specimens were laid on the table. The first 
were the upper and lower maxillary bones of a pony, furnished by 
the President, with a copious history, illustrating a peculiar and 
painful disease aggravated by the blundering ministrations of an 
ignorant pretender of the veterinary art. Attention was directed 
to the animal in consequence of great emaciation and persistent 
copious salivation ; the advice of the quack doctor being sought, 
that worthy pronounced the affection to be “a bit of cold,” and ac- 
cordingly a “ condition ball” was administered. No amelioration, 
however, took place, and the creature grew poorer every day. He 
was at length taken in possession by the officer of the Royal Society 
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, who found he could not 
feed, and the owner was summoned before the magistrates. In the 
meanwhile, the animal died, and a 'post-mortem examination was in- 
stituted, when the cause was found to exist in large accumulations 
of “ fox-tail” grass in the alveolar cavities, by the sides of the 
molar and incisor teeth. 
The occurrence gave rise to an affection which, hitherto, has 
been generally omitted from scientific works, yet, nevertheless, 
points out peculiarities in the vegetation of districts, which the 
educated practitioner will not fail to admit to the category of evils 
which militate against the well-being of domestic animals. 
The President also exhibited a kidney of large size, recently taken 
from the carcase of a horse ; the specimen consisted in reality of 
tjvo organs combined, attended with some variation of the 
position. 
The Secretary was desired to make a dissection of the morbid 
part, and report to the next meeting. 
Mr. Joseph Woody er, sen., brought a specimen showing the dis- 
ease “ seedy toe.” 
The President thanked Mr. Woodger, and stated that at a future 
meeting he hoped to be able to advance his views upon the nature 
of the disease. So far he was of opinion that it consisted of a de- 
cline in the secretion, or constitution of the epithelial cells, secreted 
by the sensitive laminae, uniting them to the horny laminae. 
Mr. W. Huntiny, referring to the formation of horn tumours 
within the hoof, said he had found them to consist of homologous 
XL1V. 16 
