SPLENIC DISEASE. 
325 
dressed, and sold. Nothing different was to be seen in this 
one from the former ; the spleen was rather larger and darker 
in colour, a greater quantity of blood was in the intestines, 
and the liver was very large and soft. 
To the question, Is the flesh of animals affected with 
splenic apoplexy injurious to those who eat it? I think I may 
reply in the negative. These animals, along with others that 
fell victims to it, were all consumed in the villages, and no 
bad results have been heard of ; moreover, the spleens and 
other offal were consumed by the butcher’s pigs without the 
animals being in the least affected ; but, strange to relate, 
four pigs, of about four months old, that were in the yard 
where the second one was bled, and had lapped up the blood, 
suffered severely for a few days with sore throats ; one was 
very bad ; nothing was done to them, and all recovered. In 
a third yard another two-year-old was found dead one morn- 
ing, and examination revealed the same cause. 
It was evident that some mysterious and fatal influences 
were at work, and which needed immediate measures to 
counteract them. The owner had kept cattle for a number of 
years, in the same yards, on similar food, and never had any 
similar occurrences. Could it be poison ? Was the cake of 
bad quality, or the water at fault ? The cake was said to be 
the best, the water had been the same for years, and when 
looked at by an outsider no cause could be found but poison. 
It is difficult to persuade ignorant people that such occur- 
rences are the results of natural causes. Ignorance always 
exacts of its victims a blind belief in the supernatural , and 
any reason presented to them that they cannot comprehend 
is uniformly rejected in its favour. The question, therefore, 
arises, what are the causes which give rise to this condition 
of system, and what is its nature? Before attempting to 
answer these questions it may be as well to mention that, by 
way of prevention, the whole stock were setoned in the dew- 
lap, and had each a saline purge composed as follows : 
5c. Magnesia Sulph., 
Sodium Chloride, aa. ^viij. 
Pot. Nit., *ij. 
Pot. Chlorate, 5ij* M. 
The quantity of cake was lessened, a few mangolds allowed, 
the Sodium and Pot. Chlorate repeated after two days, and 
no cases have occurred since, some two months ago. 
I find, however, that this affection is not confined to the 
bovine and ovine species, but that solipedes are also its 
victims. I have had occasion this season to make examina- 
