264 
FEVER WITH CRITICAL ABSCESSES. 
2d .—Much the same; pulse 68; takes a little of the tares which 
were substituted for the lucern; the difficulty of breathing conti¬ 
nuing, I added 2 drachms of aloes to the medicine. 
—Symptoms highly aggravated; pulse 90, with singularly 
corded feel; the breathing very quick; the extremities quite 
warm; no appetite. I took seven and a half quarts of blood, when 
she seemed triflingly affected by its loss. Gave in addition to the 
fever medicine 2 drachms of aloes; bowels still confined. 
10 P.M.—The case seemed serious, and the pulse had again 
acquired all the hardness, &c., which it was in possession of in the 
morning; the blood last drawn exhibited much buff again. I 
opened afresh the same orifice, which bled freely until she began 
to stagger, but not until she had lost eight quarts. 
^th .—Looks more lively, and in many respects much the same; 
bowels confined: gave 3 drachms of aloe^ in addition, with injec¬ 
tions. Towards evening I observed an enlargement over the in¬ 
sertion of the biceps femoris, hard and painful, into which I rubbed 
a little volatile liniment. 
5th .—Much the same; ventured on another 2 drachms of aloes, 
in addition to the other balls. Up to the 12th, I had given 22 
drachms of aloes, with injections, &c. (and had the limbs kept 
warm), and never yet were the bowels in the least moved. On 
this day I found the tumour, and dressed it for three days with the 
turpentine liniment, and, lastly, with a mild solution of zinc and 
acetate of lead. Thinking her considerably better, I now discon¬ 
tinued the treatment, and was preparing her for a dose of physic, 
when, on the 14th, on the opposite side, another tumour appeared, 
which exceeded in size its fellow one, and contained one pint of 
pus, which was not evacuated until the 29th : it all along remained 
hard. At length, getting tired of fomenting, &c., I plunged my 
lancet into it an inch or so, but which was not deep enough to 
reach the matter. From this time she did well. I neglected to say 
I inserted two rowels in her chest on the second day, and likewise 
to mention an enlargement commencing at the udder, which ran ra¬ 
pidly along the belly up to the most posterior rowel, and which 
swelling hung long by her, in spite of scarifications, &c. &c. Please 
say if these enlargements were the sequel of distemper. The 
extreme torpitude of the bowels would suggest some other cause, as 
we generally find them singularly irritable in distemper. Although 
it is my usual practice to give aloes, I have never seen harm done 
by the use of it; but I don’t give it in alterative doses, lest I 
should surcharge the system, and produce superpurgation; I at 
once give from 2 to 6 drachms, according to circumstances. 
A disease incident to milch-cows is very prevalent in my neigh¬ 
bourhood, denominated fog-ill, occasioned by being turned out on 
