ON APHTHOUS DISEASE AMONG CATTLE. 
641 
in the mouth. This opinion will, we are convinced, be enter- 
tained by all those who, like ourselves, have reflected for a moment 
on the nature and character of the ulcers that succeed aphthous 
vesicles. They were, in fact, pale, disgusting to look at, of a dirty 
grey colour, speckled with little red dots, the edges hardened, ex- 
tending themselves rapidly both in size and depth, and they secreted 
a bloody, foetid, acrid, corrosive humour, and were exceedingly con- 
tagious, even as regards the human being*. How different is this 
to the characters which we, in common with most veterinarians, 
have assigned to the ulcers already described ! Does it not abso- 
lutely prevent all idea of their being identical ? Those words, 
ulcers and ulcerations , which presuppose some internal evil, some 
invading and disorganizing property, and of which we have made 
use from custom’s sake, may be properly employed in the former 
case ; but they are not adapted to designate the denuded surfaces 
which succeed to the aphthous vesicles. 
Baraillon leaves still less doubt as to the nature of the disease 
which he speaks of under the denomination of the aphthous epi- 
zootic. Here we found, says he, at one time vesicles red around 
their bases, at another inflamed pustules without ampullae, oftenest 
scratches, cuts, cracks, ulcers eating into the tongue, and con- 
suming it, and, in some few instances, occasioning fatal conse- 
quences when the animals had not been attended to. 
We shall continue this analysis no farther: the last extract 
irrefragrably proves that the aphthae observed in 1785, in the 
Bourbonnais, by Baraillon, were but one symptom, one epipheno- 
menon of a typhoid or charbonnous affection. 
Such is not, however, the opinion of all veterinarians. M. 
Delafond, who has devoted himself so long to the study of epi- 
zootics, still retains among the list of aphthous affections those 
observed by Sagar, Baraillon, and Lamberlichi ; and not only so, 
but he takes the opinion of these authors as the basis on which 
he prescribes certain measures relative to the sanitary police which 
we do not agree with, and which we shall thoroughly examine in 
their proper place. 
A celebrated human practitioner, M. Raynert, finds the greatest 
possible similarity between the aphthous enzootic described by 
Sagar and Baraillon, and the one which he studied in the environs 
of Paris. Had this talented man reflected longer on the writings 
of those two authors, we are convinced that his opinion would 
* Analysis of Huzard, sen., vol. iv., Des Instructions Veterinaires, 
p. 165. 
f Analysis of Huzard, sen., loco citato , p. 166. 
f Recueil de Medecine Vet£rinaire, 1839, p. 142. 
VOL. XVIII. 4 S 
