CARBON SUGGESTED AS A REMEDY FOR MURRAIN, &C. (583 
this, I should still draw the same inference ; for it has been no less 
my endeavour to shew that the different diseases produced by this 
invisible but well known agent are amenable to the same treat- 
ment. This will be evident by a reference to the work which 
accompanies the preceding, and which I have also forwarded for 
your perusal and consideration : I will therefore take it for granted 
that this remedy, if resorted to, would be beneficial in the treat- 
ment of disease in the brute as well as in the human subject. 
There is, however, a difference, and it is not only a striking one, 
but, at the same time, a material difference, in the effects which are 
produced by the operation of these deleterious agents in men and 
animals. This is the fact, that in the former the poison is more 
apt to exert its deleterious influence on the abdominal organs and 
the skin ; while, in the latter, the thoracic organs appear to be 
more frequently attacked. The variation may, in all probability, 
be ascribed to the circumstance that animals, from their position, 
imbibe the poison, on its extrication from the soil, in a state of 
greater concentration than man*. It would, therefore, be more 
likely to produce an immediate effect on the respiratory organs on 
its passage into the system, than when imbibed more slowly, and 
in a less concentrated state ; for the effects which then ensue are 
more generally the result of the gradual absorption of the poison, 
and its accumulation in the circulating fluid. Be this as it may, it 
necessarily causes not only a difference in the effects, but also a 
difference in the treatment; for the introduction of remedies into the 
stomach will not, perhaps, be so beneficial in diseases of the chest 
as in those of the abdominal organs. This, therefore, is a disad- 
vantage in the treatment of the diseases under consideration, un- 
less we could produce a more decided effect by its introduction 
into the system by the windpipe. On this point I am not prepared 
to give a decided answer ; for although I have frequently introduced 
the remedy into the system in man by inspiration, I have never 
yet tried the experiment with animals, and am therefore ignorant 
of its chemical as well as therapeutic effects when taken into the 
lungs. As, however, I may shortly have an opportunity of putting 
this experiment to the test of experience, and as you, Messrs. 
Editors, and your numerous readers — at least the professional part 
of them — will be capable of drawing conclusions on the subject, f 
shall merely add that the suggestion now thrown out is, I think, 
worthy a trial. In the mean time we may resort to the administra- 
tion of the remedy by the mouth, the same as in the human subject. 
As the directions for the administration of the different forms of 
carbon have been fully given in the works which accompany this 
* The circumstance of animals respiring — some exclusively, others much 
more than man — through their nose, may also have its influence. — E d. Vet. 
