196 ENLARGEMENT OF THE LIVER OF A COW. 
the right side, with a view of determining her pregnancy, but 
the body that my hand came in contact with was too large 
for, and had not the feel of a foetus. As the cow had occasion- 
ally been observed to strain, I was now induced to examine her 
per vaginam :, when I found the os uteri to be indurated and 
unyielding; I could also distinctly feel a round and hard sub- 
stance, about the size of a large cricket-ball, and which I sup- 
posed to be the right ovary; the other one, however, I could not 
find. I told the owner that the cow was not in calf, unless 
it were extra uterine, and that in all probability the mass we 
could feel from the outside was a tumour within the abdo- 
men. I also added that medicine could do no good in such a 
case. He at once decided on having her killed, w hich afforded 
me the opportunity of making a post-mortem examination. 
All the viscera 'were healthy, with the exception of those I 
send. The liver, as you will see, is the organ principally 
affected. It weighed, when first removed, 146 lbs. Its 
great size led to its encroaching on the space occupied by 
the other viscera, all of" which w 7 ere more or less compressed. 
It did not adhere to the side of the abdomen, but was firmly 
attached to the diaphragm, and also in places to the intes- 
tines. In my examination I had the assistance of Mr. Hearn, 
M.R.C.Y.S., who was recently your pupil, and who has, I 
believe, also w 7 ritten to you on the subject. The cause of 
the enlargement of the liver is evident enough, being produced 
by hydatids, but I leave to you to describe the variety to w hich 
they belong. I have attended post-mortem examinations 
of many cattle since 1828, but never met with anything like 
this before. 
[The description given by Mr. Gregory leaves us but little 
to say respecting this extraordinary enlargement of the liver 
As stated by him, the sole cause of its increase in size w as 
due to the presence of an immense number of hydatids in 
the substance of the organ. These entozoa belonged to the 
variety designated the Acephalocystis endogena , and each cyst 
contained within it a considerable quantity of the so-called 
Echinococci . In the ‘ Transactions of the Veterinary Medical 
Association for 1842-3/ a similar case is recorded as occur- 
ring in a pig, w r hich is illustrated by a coloured plate, and 
w hich may be said to depict equally as well the condition of 
the liver of the animal in question.] 
