218 ON THE EPIZOOTIC DISEASES OF CATTLE, &C. 
have lived almost a fortnight without being seen to take or touch 
any thing eatable. 
The post-mortem examination of all such as I have seen exhi- 
bited a total destruction of the lungs. The whole substance had 
become, as it were, a congested mass ; the texture and cells were 
quite obliterated, while the lungs themselves were enlarged to 
four times their natural form. In a great number of cases effu- 
sion had taken place to very considerable extent, and large quan- 
tities of lymph were thrown out between the lungs and the ribs. 
The pericardium of the heart also increased in thickness in 
the ratio of five or six to one, compared to what it ought to be. 
Lymph in considerable quantities was likewise effused all around 
it, besides suff usion within the pericardium itself to a great extent 
in proportion to that of the chest, which, when opened, was 
found a complete mass of disease, quite in a putrescent state. 
This was the case more or less in all, according as the disorder 
had shewn itself, or assumed different modifications. 
Frequently the most potent remedies were of no avail, and the 
whole arcana of simples and compounds were baffled and foiled 
by this death-grasping plague ; and yet the impatience of em- 
ployers naturally required something to be done. 
I believe there were many farmers who, despairing of relief 
from art, at last turned out their stock to shift in the fields as 
they could ; and, strange to say, some of these unbelievers in 
the ars medica were as lucky as others who doctored in all ways 
and shapes. 
In my humble opinion, however, extremes are never beneficial, 
and I attribute the non-success in many instances to the delay of 
the owners of stock in applying to well-qualified practitioners 
for timely assistance, instead of physicking under the guidance 
of some random cowleech or mere seller of drugs, who are ever 
ready to dispense any thing, or any nostrum, providing there may 
be a good profit on the sale thereof. When the cowleech and the 
druggists fail, the veterinary surgeon, as a last resort, is called 
in ; and, should the case, as was now most likely, be hopeless, 
of course, he was to blame, although the most innocent party. 
Bleeding , I have observed, instead of relieving, only hastened 
the approach of death. The treatment most successful in such 
cases as came under my observation, was to give small doses of 
sulph. mag. combined with emet. tart., and to keep the animal 
quiet. Such as had had the epidemic of 1841 in a slight degree 
I observed to recover, while those which had been more severely 
affected were almost sure to die. 
On such a subject it naturally occurs to all, What can be the 
cause of visitations so fatal and repeated ? A topic abounding 
