FRAGILITY OF THE BONES IN CATTLE. 63 
I found the beast in very good condition, although there was 
always a slight degree of fever perceptible. The cow, also conti- 
nued to give her milk as well as ever, and was generally the best 
milker in the lot. But these deceitful appearances soon vanish : 
the animal wastes gradually away — shivers — its teeth chatter — • 
its coat becomes roughened and dull — it is scarcely able to stand — 
its gait is weak and tottering — its eyes are dull and watery — the 
mucous membranes of the mouth and nose are pale and foul ; she 
lies down, and is unable to rise again — cough comes on — she 
yields little or no milk — her food is not properly digested — she 
has violent diarrhoea, and at length she dies, with or without some 
of her bones having snapped asunder. 
I never saw any oxen attacked by this disease. It always 
appeared in cows, and in the best of them ; and either in those 
that were pregnant, or that had calved three or four weeks previ- 
ously. It was quite evident that every little nourishment which 
the mother had yet the power of gaining was appropriated by the 
young one in the womb ; for I not unfrequently found the new- 
born animal perfect and healthy, while the parent was weak and 
wasted. 
On post-mortem examination of animals which had died of this 
disease, I found that the fat had nearly or quite vanished from the 
cellular tissue — the flesh was flabby — the bones brittle, easily 
broken, and covered with reddish blue spots — the inner side of the 
ribs very porous, and dark red — the marrow thin and fluid-like, 
and of a dirty reddish yellow colour — the substance of the spinal 
cord and the brain very soft, and of a greyish colour — in the ven- 
tricles of the brain, and between it and the dura mater, was a 
quantity of fluid ; and in many animals there was a great deal of 
fluid in the chest and abdomen, especially in the latter ; in short, 
I found all the appearances which in general accompany a dis- 
turbed state of the animal fluids. 
Many writers assert that this disease is produced by sour fer- 
mentations, and food which generates an acid, as potatoes, turnips, 
clover, &c., and mouldy or unclean fodder, and also by sour pas- 
ture and many kinds of grasses ; but they who assert this should 
recollect that this disease has been prevalent on the Alps for nearly 
fifteen years, where no kind of grass grows, and impure mouldy 
fodder, which might generate acid fementations, is scarcely ever 
given. They should also recollect that this disease has appeared 
in the cow-house in which many cattle were kept, all of whom had 
the same food, and to whom the same attention was paid. A 
very few suffered from the malady, and all the rest escaped. 
Lastly, they should recollect that this disease is equally prevalent 
through the whole province of Hesse, and shewed itself in every 
