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CENTRAL VETERINARY MEDICAL SOCIETY. 
The monthly meeting of this Society was held on March 9th ; 
George Fleming, Esq., F.G.S., M.R.C.V.S., &c., the President, in 
the chair. 
The Secretary laid on the table a number of specimens of tape- 
worm, together with a work on ‘ The Nomenclature of Diseases,’ 
presented by a Fellow of the Society. An account of the kidney 
brought before the last meeting, and referred to the Secretary for 
dissection and report, was also read. It showed the organ was 
provided with necessary connections with the arterial and venous 
systems, ureters, and appropriate coverings, &c. ; that the internal 
structure throughout was perfect, and at the anterior portion homo- 
geneous, and without a line of separation, from which point the 
kidney of each side arises, extending backwards, with slight varia- 
tion of position, constituting one organ, but in every other respect 
dual. 
INFLUENZA. 
The Secretary next read a paper on the so-called “ Influenza o f 
Horses,” after which the President, calling attention to the vast 
importance of the subject, said it had been keenly debated by the 
most eminent men of this and the preceding century. All points 
have received the most searching investigation, yet certain differ- 
ences of opinion still prevail with reference to the pathology of the 
disease. 
Mr. TV. Hunting said he thought, when hearing the first portion 
of the paper, he should be inclined to differ from the essayist. A 
copious history of “ Influenza” had been given, embodying an 
account of earthquakes, peculiar seasons, extraordinary planetary 
phenomena, volcanic disturbances, inundations, &c., with collateral 
plagues or pestilences among mankind and animals also, and his 
impression was that it was intended to prove that all diseases arose 
from some atmospheric aberration. In his opinion the liability to dis- 
ease — its intensity, progress, duration, and termination — are due to a 
peculiar weakness of organs. Whatever the form or nature of the 
tissue affected may be, disease is always the same in each. In one 
part it may be termed rheumatism, in another inflammation, and in 
special organs as pneumonia, hepatitis, nephritis, cystitis, &c., yet 
in all disease is the same, and always proves to be simple fever, 
aggravated or intensified by external conditions. He believed that 
“ influenza” is but simple fever, and non-contagious. There is no 
specific condition of the blood ; it contains only such matters as, from 
the interruption caused in certain organs, are not eliminated. In 
the treatment he relied entirely upon strong stimulants, followed 
by a gentle purgative after the crisis of the fever had passed. 
Mr. J. R. Cox agreed with the essayist as to the character of the 
