491 
AN ESSAY ON A SPECIES OF INFLAMMATION OF 
THE BRAIN, PECULIAR TO CATTLE. 
By M. Gelle, Professor at the Royal Veterinary School of 
Toulouse , and grounded on facts communicated to him by 
M. Mullon, Sen., of La Rochelle . 
[The sterling value of this Essay will, we are perfectly assured, 
be deemed a sufficient apology for its length. — Y.] 
I do not know, says M. Mullon, whether this malady has been 
observed by other veterinary surgeons, but it certainly has never 
been described. In the country in which I practise, it is designated 
by the name of the spider disease — d'araignte, because some em- 
pirics attribute it to the introduction of one of these insects into 
the cranium of the ox, which feeds upon the brain, and causes all 
the evils that we are about to' describe. 
The symptoms being almost always the same, it will be de- 
sirable to enumerate them in a general manner, in order to avoid 
repetition. 
Two days before the animal becomes decidedly ill, he carries 
his head low — he does not eat half of his usual allowance, but, 
apparently, with the same appetite — he creeps slowly along, far 
behind the rest of the flock — he scarcely regards the goad, and 
he is little occupied by the objects which surround him. Although 
the sense of sight is actually little affected, a spectator would say 
that the animal was blind. It is by this that the farmers know 
that the beast is attacked by this disease. 
The animal gradually becomes worse, and, on the third day, the 
conjunctiva is red and inflamed, and there is a considerable dis- 
charge of tears. On the fourth day, the ophthalmia is intense, the 
lower lid is reversed, the weeping still increased — the lucid cornea 
becomes opaque, the pituitary and buccal membranes are red, an 
abundant discharge of mucus proceeds from the nostrils, and of viscid 
saliva from the mouth, while deglutition is become impossible. On 
the fifth day the inflammation of the conjunctiva has attained to such 
a point, that the eyes are surrounded by a red projecting ring, the 
consequence of the reversement of the eyelids : the central por- 
tion of lucid cornea, yet apparent, is very small — sometimes opaque, 
yellow, thickened, and at other times preserving its transparency. 
A thickening of the pituitary membrane gives a whizzing sound 
to the respiration, and, sometimes, the difficulty of breathing is 
extreme — an infectious and bloody discharge runs from the nos- 
trils, and occasionally brings with it portions of the mucous mem- 
brane, and the patient is threatened with instant suffocation. 
