OF THE PERICARDIUM. 3*21 
was exhibited on dissection; this I considered, and I was con¬ 
firmed in my opinion of its Jong duration. 
I gave Mr. Wright a written detail of the case, and my opinion 
upon it, of which the following is a copy: “ that the primary 
disease in this case w'as of the pericardium; and that so extra¬ 
ordinary was the extent of disorganization which had taken place, 
that it was matter of absolute certainty that it could not pos¬ 
sibly have been effected, except under a disease of several 
months’ continuance : that the disease of the abdominal viscera 
(but which yielded to the power of medicine) was a consequence 
of this excessive derangement; and that the immediate cause of 
death was from suffocation, produced by the enormous quantity 
of purulent fluid latterly secreted.” 
I advised Mr. Wright to send a copy of this case, and opinion, 
together with the hide of the animal, after putting his brand- 
mark upon it, to a friend of his that lived in the neighbourhood 
of Mr. Thomas, the cattle dealer of whom he had bought 
the heifer, and to desire him to deliver the hide, and to allow 
Mr. Thomas’s veterinary surgeon (if he employed one), or if 
not, the family surgeon, to peruse the case, and I thought that he 
would not find much difficulty in getting the matter settled. 
He did so, and Mr. Thomas honourably paid him for the heifer, 
and expences ; but having had her in his possession only three 
or four days prior to selling her to Mr. Wright, he naturally 
turned to the party of whom he had purchased her for repay¬ 
ment likewise : this was refused, and the matter went into a 
course of law, and I received a subpoena to attend the Shrewsbury 
assizes, in March, to give my evidence. This in a few days 
was countermanded, and 1 have since learned that the defendant 
had agreed to pay all the debt and costs. 
I send you this case for various reasons : in the first place, I 
consider that even a simple record of extraordinary cases that 
occur in veterinary practice (though they should be given without 
note or comment) is extremely valuable. For who, when he 
is standing by a suffering patient, that cannot inform him of the 
nature of the pain that is tormenting him, when every eye is 
turned upon his, and every one looks to him for the expected 
explanation or prognosis, when, perhaps, the symptoms are such 
as to set all ordinary calculation or explanation at defiance, and 
the whole of his previous practice furnishes him with no parallel 
case ; I say who, at such a time, would not be glad to cast back 
the eye of his mind over the many valuable records that he re¬ 
members to have read in the pages of Tin: Veterinarian for 
instance, if haply amongst them he may find something in the 
