272 
LETTER TO THE EDITORS. 
being unable to steady or assist himself in any way, it was found 
necessary to lay him down again, in which position he remained 
without tossing himself much about, although sensation and power 
of motion were not entirely destroyed. He was repeatedly bled, 
laxative medicine was administered, the head was kept cool, and 
the region of the spine stimulated externally, but he died after 
three days’ illness. The body was carefully examined after death. 
The stomach, intestines and other abdominal and pelvic viscera 
were found perfectly healthy. The lungs were congested, but 
apparently had recently become so. The heart internally and 
externally, with the pericardium, were free from disease. On ex- 
posing the brain, considerable congestion of the cerebral pia mater 
was evident, yet there was not any tangible appearance of inflam- 
mation in the nervous substance or its envelopes, contained within 
the cranial cavity. On opening the spinal canal, the membranes, 
as well as the substance of the cord, were found intensely inflamed. 
The dura mater and pia mater were almost black in the lumbar 
region, whilst the proper structures of the cord itself were also of a 
deep red colour, and the medullary portion was so much softened 
that its fibrous composition could with difficulty be distinguished. 
SOMETHING NEW IN ANIMAL CHEMISTRY. 
To the Editors of Ci The Veterinarian .” 
Will you allow me to mention — as the fact maybe interesting 
to those members of the veterinary profession who devote attention 
to animal chemistry — a hitherto unsuspected ingredient to exist 
alike in the blood and the milk of the cow 1 These fluids were 
evaporated to dryness, burned in a large open crucible, and the 
resulting ash boiled with muriatic acid. The filtered liquid w r as 
then evaporated to dryness, heated to low redness, and washed 
with a small quantity of distilled water. The insoluble residue 
was transferred to a platina crucible, moistened with the strongest 
oil of vitriol, and warmed, while a square of glass, covered with 
bees’ wax, through which characters were traced with a small 
pointed rod, was placed over the crucible as a cover. 
I am repeating these experiments at present with the blood of 
the horse and with that of man, in both of which I expect to find 
fluorine. That element has hitherto been found only in the bones 
of animals and in human urine. It may now be expected to occur 
in all the tissues of all animals, although but in a small quantity. 
