294 
VETERINARY MEDICAL SOCIETY. 
March the 4 th, 1829. 
THE subject for discussion was Mr. Langworthy’s valuable 
paper on Pneumonia, which we have been enabled to present to 
our readers. 
Mr. James Turner had fancied that a frequent cause of pneu¬ 
monia in London was the general increase of temperature, and 
more particularly the change from a pure to a vitiated atmo¬ 
sphere ; also so many horses being confined in one stable, and 
frequently the utter loss of exercise. The change from cold to 
heat was the most frequent and dangerous cause. 
Mr. Mavor thought that the disease depended frequently not 
so much on alteration of temperature, as on a peculiar state of the 
atmosphere, else why was it so much more prevalent at one time 
than another, when the temperature was the same ? Horses, and 
young horses, may at one time be long confined in the hottest 
stable with impunity; at another time they wall become ill. If a 
horse be turned from a w^arm to a cold atmosphere, and has his 
liberty, there is no danger; but if he be tied up, he wall be at¬ 
tacked with a shivering fit. A north-east wand seems to be the 
most ungenial; and from the occurrence and prevalence of it, he 
could often predict when he should be busy. 
Mr. Langworthy observed, that cattle in this country w^ere fre¬ 
quently subject to hoose during the prevalence of this wind. 
Mr. James Turner thought that the vitiated air caused by the 
perfectly closed stable had much to do with the production of the 
disease. 
Mr. Thomas Turner observed, that horses were peculiarly sub¬ 
ject to pneumonia when many of them stood in the same stable. 
Mr. Henderson remarked, that the disease was particularly 
prevalent in the spring and autumn, when the process of moulting 
w T as going on. 
Mr. Field imagined that it much depended on some unknown 
atmospheric influence. It was often found in one quarter of the 
town, and not in another; in one set of stables, and not in another. 
One person will lose many horses one year, and the disease will 
not occur for many years afterwards. Pneumonia assumed va¬ 
rious forms at different times. The disease now prevalent was 
peculiar : it commenced with lassitude, diminished appetite, and 
increased respiratory murmur. In two or three days cough w r as 
heard; and then followed the true characters of pneumonia. At 
other seasons the disease was preceded by rigors and laborious 
