ON PUERPERAL FEVER IN THE COW. 
505 
spinal system. This must always be attended to, and early evacu- 
ated by the catheter, for an accumulation of urea in the system is 
alone sufficient to cause cerebral disease. 
Any farther treatment — which can only consist in modifications 
of that already stated — will depend entirely upon circumstances. 
If we once succeed in rousing the almost defunct powers of nature, 
and producing action of the bowels, the disease is arrested, the gan- 
glionic functions are resumed, milk is secreted, and recovery takes 
place with astonishing rapidity. 
A gradual return of cerebral functions, and true spinal ones also 
— should they have been impaired — quickly follows action of the 
bowels. The eyes become sensible to light — breathing is more re- 
gular and less noisy — the pulse acquires a firmer and more regular 
beat — the head is elevated voluntarily, and the power of deglutition 
is restored. In no disease does the transition from a state of utter 
helplessness to one of comparative recovery so soon occur, all, 
sometimes, taking place under twelve hours. 
Although amendment may progress favourably, food should not 
be offered until the animal, by keenly looking out, betrays a want 
to partake. Gruel may then be given if she will drink ; other- 
wise it is better withheld. 
Recovery sometimes takes place, with the exception of paralysis 
remaining in one or more extremities, or it may be confined to be- 
neath the knees or hocks. Our treatment here, when the constitution 
permits, must consist of external stimulants to the limbs, or that part 
of the spinal cord whence its nerves arise, or to both. An internal 
administration of such medicines as are likely to cause absorption 
of the irritating substance, as iodine, mercury, cordial aperients, is 
the best way to treat such cases. The constitution should be well 
supported with liberal allowances of good food, and, if apparently 
resulting from debility, strychnia may be tried. 
In concluding these remarks, my apologies for their length and 
imperfection, with the infringement upon your valuable time 
thereby occasioned, are such as I trust will gain your indulgence, 
being simply these, — the importance of my subject, the conflicting 
statements respecting the disease, and an almost entire silence of 
recorded veterinary opinion. 
I cannot agree with those who suppose the disease primarily 
one of debility. That the symptoms ultimately assume such a 
character depends upon causes which I trust to have explained, 
together with the reasons why I would administer stimulants in an 
affection apparently forbidding them. Cattle even under inflam- 
matory diseases are, with little harm, or occasionally with none, 
treated with stimulating or aromatic purgatives. The beneficial 
action of stimulants on cattle is known to every practitioner. And 
