92 
PULMONARY CONSUMPTION IN THE HORSE. 
By W. H. Dewhurst, Esq. 
To the Editor of “ The Veterinarian .” 
My dear Sir, 
IN the number of your truly valuable Journal for this month, a 
correspondent details the symptoms and treatment of phthisis 
pulmonalis in the horse: permit me to give you a sketch of the 
post mortem appearances exhibited in this disease. Early in Ja- 
nuary, I was requested by my friend, Mr. Gutteridge, a veterinary 
surgeon, to be present at the dissection of a coach horse, who, ac¬ 
cording to the owner’s account, had for some time a cough, and 
three days previous to his death, he laid down, and could rise only 
with difficulty; and, on the evening of the third day, he suddenly 
expired. On opening the abdomen, the whole alimentary canal 
was filled with flatus, and no appearance of faecal matter, except a 
little in the rectum: with this exception, the abdominal viscera 
were perfectly healthy. On opening the thorax, adhesions of the 
lungs were found in abundance, requiring considerable force to 
separate them : however, on removing the pulmonary organs, the 
surface exhibited a series of irregular knots or prominences, and, 
on making an incision into their substance, an immense number 
of tubercles, filled with pus, were discovered, some of these nearly 
as large as a walnut. On carrying an incision along the trachea, 
towards the larynx, about twelve ounces of fluid pus made its 
exit: the trachea, in its structure, was perfectly sound. I regret 
that I did not examine the brain, a circumstance to which I re¬ 
spectfully beg leave to call the attention of veterinary surgeons; 
as, if an examination of this viscus was made a part of their dis¬ 
sections, the consequent result would be, that great light would 
be thrown on the pathology and treatment of many diseases. The 
sudden death of this animal, I am of opinion, was suffocation 
from the quantity of pus being thrown towards the larynx, and 
consequently impeding the function of respiration. That this was 
a case of phthsis there cannot, I think, be any doubt. 
On January the 16th, I was requested by an eminent medi¬ 
cal practitioner, to open a mare, and in whom similar appearances 
(with the exception of the pus in the trachea) were found, as in 
the horse; and the medical gentlemen present were decidedly of 
opinion that it was the disease in question. 
