652 
ACONITE versus HYDROCYANIC ACID. 
led to admire and follow Mr. Hill’s “ very rational system.” 
If he had done so, his previous failures might surprise the 
readers of the Veterinarian less than the comparative success 
attending the plan recorded in my paper. 
I do not think the supplementary addition on Mr. Mac- 
gillivray’s own account, viz. the six weeks in slings, and the 
fortnight’s course of arsenic, was any improvement, or in any 
way necessary. For the first fortnight the mare (“ a hand- 
some four-year-old,” presumably in good condition) always 
partook greedily of oatmeal and bran ; at the end of which 
time “ eating and drinking were soon performed with com- 
parative ease.” On what, then, could the] “ extreme weak- 
ness” depend ? If the mare could partake greedily out of the 
hand, why not out of the manger ? 
It is only thus, by the by, that we get a glimpse of Mr. 
Macgillivray and his friends 5 original system of treatment, 
and are better able to understand his having only been able 
to bring through three cases. 
Mr. Macgillivray 5 s ideas of the distinctive characters of 
traumatic and idiopathic disease are somewhat hazy as ex- 
pressed in the concluding part of his paper ; and I cannot 
characterise them as “ plausible and self satisfactory, 5 ’ what- 
ever that is, as he is pleased to do mine. 
I stated my ideas in a few plain words, and I see no 
occasion to add to or take anything from the views there 
expressed, although, as Mr. Macgillivray says, “ medical ex- 
perience and records prove the reverse, and with good reason,” 
I may add. 
Mr. Macgillivray gives as an instance of a cause of idio- 
pathic tetanus easily combated “ the presence of intestinal 
worms.” I contend that where the indication of the disease 
can he clearly traced to the irritation caused by such parasites, 
it is as truly traumatic as if depending on the irritation 
caused by an open joint. 
I will conclude by repeating what I said in my last paper, 
that the practitioner who thinks it absolutely necessary to 
combat each symptom as it presents itself in this disease, such 
as when the ears or legs are cold, by giving stimulants, when 
the back, by applying sheep skins and triple rugs, and 
when any of the evacuations don’t quite suit him, applying the 
appropriate remedy, or when he imagines extreme weakness 
to exist though the animal is feeding greedily, he erects slings, 
and prescribes arsenic, &c., will not be wrong in considering 
its treatment extremely difficult and most unsatisfactory. 
[We should have much preferred to have seen Mr. Simpson 
writing in a less censorious spirit. Discussion on medical 
