280 
MR. KENT’S REPLY TO MR. FISHER. 
and of a reply from Mr. George Fisher, should he choose to give 
me one. 
In the March Number, page 95 of the Proceedings of the 
Society, “ Mr. George Fisher’s attention had been first called to 
this disease in the case of a horse then under its influence, which 
was the property of a veterinary surgeon in Bristol. The owner 
had shortly before given £70 for it. 
“ When he saw the horse, it presented the common appear- 
ances of influenza. There was injection of the mucous mem- 
brane, and considerable swelling of the extremities, sheath, &c., 
accompanied by general lassitude. The surgeon to whom the 
patient belonged treated it as a case of bronchitis, by copious 
blood-letting and purgatives, and the result was, that the horse 
died.” 
Thus stands Mr. G. Fisher’s first case, as stated by him ; but 
thus stand the facts : — I purchased the horse of Mr. Withers on 
May 21st, 1839, for £55, and it died on Sept. 3d, 1840. With- 
out attributing to Mr. George Fisher any improper motive, or 
designed misrepresentation, I must say, that he ought to have 
been somewhat more careful that the facts which he states were 
founded on truth. His account is erroneous from the beginning 
to the end. 
He next asserts, that when he saw the horse it was ill of influ- 
enza, with injected mucous membrane, &c. I believe he never 
saw the horse until it was dead ; but of this I am absolutely cer- 
tain, that the legs, sheath, See., never were swelled, and that 
the mucous or pituitary membrane of the nostrils, and the con- 
junctiva of the eye, were of a deathy paleness from the com- 
mencement to the termination of the attack. 
He moreover says, that I treated the case as one of bron- 
chitis, and bled copiously, and gave purgatives. The whole of 
this statement is utterly erroneous. The horse was not bled, nor 
did he have a purgative. I was quite certain that he was free 
from bronchitis and influenza, and that the disease was purely 
gastro-enteritis , and for this I treated him. To talk about taking 
away hard food, and giving mashes and gruel to ahorse that 
from the time of being taken ill until his death never ate or 
drunk, is as absurd as his description of the appearances of the 
disease is untrue. 
The post-mortem appearances were high inflammation of the 
mucous membrane of the stomach and the large intestines. The 
membrane of the caecum was in a state of gangrene. When I 
first saw him his pulse exceeded 100, and could not be found at 
the jaw. 
Were I to follow in detail the other three cases, I could shew 
