174 
MISCELLANEA. 
INFLAMMATION OF THE SPLEEN IN THE HORSE, 
WITH ALTERATION OF THE BLOOD. 
By M. Moreau, Areis sur Aube . 
Among the domesticated animals, the diseases of the SPLEEN 
are those on which the attention of the pathologist has been least 
directed ; whether on account of the general ignorance that prevails 
of the functions of this organ, or the unfrequency of these maladies, 
or the difficulty of the diagnosis in veterinary medicine — in fact, in 
none of these are the symptoms described as they ought to have 
been. Shall we regard as an accurate description that which 
Tscheulin has described touching these affections 1 M. Gelle, Pro- 
fessor at the School of Toulouse, has thoroughly searched the diag- 
nosis of the disease ; yet how much is still wanting ! 
In December 1840, I was sent for by M. Boulard to examine a 
cow apparently of good constitution and condition. In about an 
hour afterwards I found her trembling all over. The proprietor, 
thinking it a case of indigestion, had administered a bottle of salt 
water. This did not in the slightest degree ease her pain, or 
prevent her lying down and rising again immediately every minute. 
The drink was administered, but not the slightest amelioration was 
produced. 
The following was the account ofM. Boulard: — When I arrived, 
the animal was standing ; the four limbs away from each other — 
the flanks agitated — the alse of the nose strongly contracted — the 
face contracted — the jaw-bones separated from each other, as if the 
animal had been endeavouring to respire through the mouth, and 
leaving (he dental arcades closed by the incisors — the eyes 
brilliant — the head extended over the shoulder — the pulse in- 
sensible — the conjunctiva pale — the beatings of the heart very 
powerful. Three or four minutes after my arrival these symptoms 
ceased, and our patient no longer preserved any stability : a fit 
stronger than any I beheld manifested itself. During this crisis 
he staggered and fell, and could only be raised by the strength of 
those who stood around. 
Diagnosis. — After observing these symptoms, I prognosticated 
an effusion of blood in the intestines. 
Prognosis. — Very serious. 
Treatment. — I immediately practised a bleeding from the jugu- 
lar; but I could only obtain a small quantity of thick blood, ex- 
