ON TUBERCULAR PHTHISIS. 
411 
pleasing title, and one that augurs well with regard to the im- 
provement of veterinary science in its legitimate and most ex- 
tended acceptation*. We are proud to acknowledge our obli- 
gation to M. Dupuy for the substance of the following sketch of 
M. Richard’s essay. — Y.] 
Tubercular phthisis, according to our author, consists in 
the formation of small bodies of different character, encysted or 
without a cyst, and whose seat is the pulmonary tissue. 
The causes are divided into direct and indirect. Among the 
direct causes are hereditary predisposition, a peculiar conforma- 
tion, a thin and delicate form, a feeble constitution, and a straight 
and flat breast. The indirect causes are, bad food, rapid growth, 
excessive labour, exposure to vicissitudes of wet and drought, and 
cold and heat, scrofula, the suppression of cutaneous disease, 
mechanical irritation of the lungs, and various others. 
The symptoms of phthisis in the human being, as related by 
our author, are foreign to our present purpose. The post-mortem 
examination presents the ordinary situation of the tubercles on 
the superior parts of the lobes of the lungs, and being at first 
hard, then softened, and, finally ulcerated. These ulcers are 
isolated, or running together, and forming caverns or vomica*. 
These tubercles are occasionally found in the lymphatic gan- 
glions, and in other organs. After the writings of Morton, 
Bayle, and Laennec, the cure of this disease must be con- 
sidered as chimerical : yet, if medicine has no power over con- 
firmed tubercles, it may, at least, prolong the life of the patient, 
or prevent the development of tubercles in subjects fortunately 
situated, and especially having good food, moderate exercise, 
and not being exposed to cold and humid air, particularly in build- 
ings low, damp, and dark. As to the general method of treat- 
ment, it must depend on a thousand circumstances connected 
with age, locality, and temperament. 
Our author now proceeds to phthisis in the quadruped. He 
has observed tubercles in the lungs of the foetus of six months 
* There is another gratifying feature in the present state of veterinary 
science in France, viz. the announcement of a new journal exclusively de- 
voted to the study of the diseases of the ox, the sheep, and other inferior 
animals. This again is contributing to place our art on its proper footing, 
and cannot fail of being productive of most valuable results. “Go on, 
gentlemen, and prosper,” we would say; “ and prosper you must, if you will 
renounce that disgraceful jealousy of each other, which your best friends 
on the continent, as well as on this side of the channel, behold with regret, 
occasionally mingling with disgust.” — Y. 
