258 ON THE EFFICACY OF CANTHARIDES IN GLANDERS. 
and that the coachman bled him about one in the morning : but 
after the bleeding, he began to stagger, fell down, and struggled 
till about five in the morning. 
Post-mortem appearances. —The cellular membrane was suf¬ 
fused with a limpid fluid, and the abdomen contained from eight 
to ten gallons of fluid of a similar nature ; but the viscera were 
healthy, with the exception of the kidneys, the pelvis of which 
contained about a table spoonful of purulent mucus, with an 
ulcerated surface, but their substance was healthy: the thorax 
presented a healthy appearance. 
ON THE EFFICACY OF CANTHARIDES IN 
GLANDERS. 
By Mr. TV. J. Karkeek , V. S., Truro . 
I refrained from replying to Mr. Pritchard’s letter in The Ve¬ 
terinarian for February last ere this time, entitled “ Defence 
of Mr. Vines' Publication on Glanders, with a case of its successful 
treatment by Cantharides ,” in expectation that a more able cham¬ 
pion would have taken up the cudgels in support of the efficacy 
of cantharides. I refer your readers to Mr. P.’s statement, which 
he describes, as u one of the numerous cases,” which had oc¬ 
curred in his practice, shewing the beautiful efficacy of cantha¬ 
rides. This case, in my opinion, has nothing whatever to do 
with glanders. What it might have been, if Mr. P. had not 
administered cantharides and gentian, instead of pursuing his 
first plan of treatment, we may form a tolerably safe guess. 
In all probability he would have died; but fortunately, the 
“ tonic stimulating planf as Mr. Vines very properly calls it, 
“ tended to raise the vital powers and invigorate the system, so 
as to resist the effects of the disease.” 
I entered on the subject without prejudice, and only as ’it 
regards the interest of science. I did not mean to insinuate, as 
Mr. Pritchard has stated, that Mr. Vines’ book was of no benefit 
to the profession; but only as far as it respected the curing of 
glanders by cantharides. 
Mr. P. in this instance has most practically and fairly con¬ 
tradicted the vaunted maxim of the epicurean, “ ex nihilo 
nihil fitfor he has made a great deal out of nothing. 
I shall be most happy to see a few detailed cases of glanders 
in the next Veterinarian. Perhaps Mr. Pritchard will be 
more fortunate in his next selection out of the numerous cases 
which have occurred in his extensive practice, shewing “the 
. beautiful efficacy of cantharides.” 
