286 
ON THE EPIDEMIC OF THE SPRING OF 1828. 
Bj/ Mr. Samuel Brown, of Melton Mowbray. 
To the Editor of The Veterinarian. 
Sir, 
YOU express a wish, in your sixth Number, that some experienced 
veterinarian would give you a history of the epidemic catarrhal 
fever of the spring of 1828. I had hoped that a more experienced 
practitioner than myself would have given, in your last number, 
the particulars of this singular disease; but that not being the case, 
I send you the result of my experience, should you deem it worthy 
a place in your valuable publication. 
The pulse has been generally small and frequent; a difficult 
and sonorous breathing; an offensive smell; a troublesome and 
almost incessant cough; great difficulty in swallowing; the Schnei¬ 
derian membrane highly injected, with an inordinate discharge 
of viscid acrimonious mucus ; great enlargement of the submax¬ 
illary and parotid glands, with frequent ulceration; considerable 
debility; loss of appetite; tremor; great irritability, with a dis¬ 
inclination to move. In some cases the fasces were buttonv, 
voided in small quantities, and covered with mucus; in others 
there was diarrhoea, with a peculiar offensive smell. 
In a few instances the pulse was slow and small, the eyes over¬ 
flowing with tears; the Schneiderian membrane inflamed, yet 
assuming a yellow tint, and discharging, an immense quantity of 
viscid mucus; breathing less difficult and sonorous; veiy lethar¬ 
gic, and partial loss of voluntary motion. 
These are the most characteristic symptoms, and the most pre¬ 
dominant ones were inflammation of the nose, sore throat, great 
difficulty in swallowing, discharge from the nose, and ulceration 
of the glands. 
I bled freely at first; gave nauseating doses of aloes; inserted 
a rowel in the chest; blistered the throat; ordered gmss, mashes 
of scalded bran, and the stable to be cool and clean. In the first 
three cases, purging occurred on the third day, with the pulse very 
frequent and small. I then gave a draught of thick arrow-root, 
with pulv. opii 5i; pulv. digital. 3ij ; creta pp. ^ij. On the fourth 
day the purging had stopped; the pulse was rather slower and 
fuller; the discharge from the nose thicker, and of a blackish yel¬ 
low colour; the respiration laborious, and the breath foetid. I 
gave him tinct. opii, liq. ammon. acet., yeast, infus. anthemid: the 
I 
