396 
CONSULTATIONS. 
its abode between the membranes of the dura and pia-mater : in 
fact, that it was a case of turnsick. But the rapidity with which 
the malady runs its course precludes this supposition. 
The disturbance produced by this compression is soon propagated 
to the base of the brain and the origin of the spinal cord, and para- 
lysis ensues ; or, as you more graphically call it, “ stiffness of the 
limbs,” and this accompanied by grinding of the teeth, the usual 
attendant on this rigidity or an expression of suffering. 
You do not mention any thoracic affection, and the only abdo- 
minal one is, “ a great softness of the mucous coat of the stomach ,” 
by which I conclude that you mean the abomasum or fourth sto- 
mach. 
Putting all these things together, I confess that I am very much 
disposed to look to some affection of the digestive organs as the 
source of the evil. I am not a little “ struck” — to use your own 
expression — with the great softness of the mucous coat of the sto- 
mach. I accuse not the milk, supposing it to be pure — nor the 
bean-flour, nor the bran ; but I look to some deleterious agent, and 
first, and most of all, to LEAD. 
There is evidently some occult and temporary cause. Fifty 
years have passed, and the owner, until the present spring, has not 
had a similar affection among his calves. I have no idea of its being 
epidemic or endemic disease. I see none of the varying characters 
of influenza during life or after death. There is some very 
different cause of this dreadful mortality. 
Has there been any painting about? Could the calves have got 
to the paint-pots ? Has the milk been warmed, or the food pre- 
pared, in any empoisoned vessel? 
The characters of the disease do not agree with the effect of 
either arsenic or mercury. There is no purging ; but there is 
softening of the stomach. There is likewise spasmodic stricture of 
the limbs. They are perfectly stiffened. This early tendency to 
spasmodic stricture well accounts for the irregularity of the venous, 
or arterial, or lymphatic circulation, and the consequent effusion of 
some fluid on the brain. 
Has there been any fly-powder about, part of which had been 
used on the sheep during the last year? — Any use of lead oint- 
ments, or Goulard’s lotion? — Last of all, and I ask it with hesita- 
tion, has there been no foul play? 
After all, I am perhaps only foolishly speculating; and must ask 
you to give me some further information about the matter. 
But, in the mean time, as to conjectural treatment, blisters and 
setons are out of the question. Where are they to be applied? 
If I am at all right in my conjecture, bleeding would do no good; 
for you find no injection of the vessels of the brain, nor those of the 
abdominal or thoracic viscera. The effusion on the brain was, 
