492 ESSAY ON INFLAMMATION OF THE BRAIN. 
At this period of the disease, the animal is lying down and 
getting up every moment; he can no longer breathe except through 
the mouth ; he cannot swallow, at least without great pain, even 
the gruel which is administered to him, and, if the inflammation 
attacks the larynx, the oppression and difficulty of breathing are 
intolerable ; the whizzing sound of the breathing is changed for 
one of stertorous character ; the nostrils are dilated, the mouth is 
open, and the tongue hanging from it, and the sufferer is con- 
tinually directing his muzzle to his side. He now rises with diffi- 
culty, staggers as he crawls along, and at length suddenly falls. 
He lies for awhile with his head stretched on the ground, or, 
oftener, doubled on his flank, and dies. 
AUTOPSY. — The orifice of the nostrils is in a state of putridity. 
The nasal cavity, through its whole extent, is obstructed by the 
thickening of the pituitary membrane, which is dreadfully excori- 
ated, and readily separated from the parts beneath. The mucous 
membrane of the arch of the palate, and the fauces, is in the same 
state, and so is the larynx, the thickening of which is so great as 
almost to close the glottis. All these surfaces are infiltrated with a 
fluid of a deep yellow colour, with this difference, that the infiltra- 
tion of the membrane of the trachea never reaches the commence- 
ment of the bronchi. The sinuses of the head are generally filled 
with a bloody mucous fluid, deeper coloured in the neighbourhood 
of the cranium. The character of this infiltration seems to be govern- 
ed by the state of the brain. 
The brain is found in one of two very different states — either 
there is induration and atrophy of the brain and the cerebellum, 
or the substance of these organs is softened, and there is dropsy of 
the head. 
In the state of induration the brain scarcely half fills the cavity 
of the skull, and the meninges present, in some cases, patches and 
ecchymoses of a deep wine-red colour scattered on a white ground; 
or, in others, petechial spots, and thickly set red points. The pia 
mater and arachnoid membrane seem confounded with the cere- 
bral mass, and cannot be separated or distinguished without diffi- 
culty. The brain and the cerebellum, much diminished in bulk, 
have the form and consistence of an irregularly rounded apple. 
A kind of neck, the continuation of which is very remarkable, sepa- 
rates them from the spinal cord: one would almost say that this 
diminution of bulk was the result of a ligature tied round the com- 
mencement of the spinal cord. 
The cerebral pulp, divided in different places, presents a 
striated appearance, and echymoses of corrupted blood form. 
The nervous pulp has the consistency of half-baked bread. It is 
of a pale orange colour, and crushes between the fingers: it resem- 
bles the parenchyma of the liver. The vessels of the brain are 
