122 
MR. YOUATT’s VETERlxNARY LECTURES. 
SO here. To the practised eye the treatment of the disease is 
simple enough; but there is no malady that requires closer 
watching, or in which a blunder would be so likely to be 
fatal. 
The Malignant Epidemic. 
Continental veterinarians describe a malignant variety or ter¬ 
mination of this disease, and our imperfect history of veterinary 
medicine is not without its records of it. So lately as the year 
1815, an epidemic of a malignant character reigned among 
horses. Three out of five who were attacked died. It re¬ 
appeared in 1823, but was not so fatal. It was said that the 
horses that died were ultimately farcied; the truth was, that 
swellings and ulcerations with foetid discharge appeared in 
various parts, or almost all over them—the swellings of the com¬ 
plaint we have been considering, but aggravated and malignant. 
Our recollection of the classic lore of our early years, w'ill furnish 
us with instances of the same pest in distant times and countries. 
We have not forgotten the vivid description of Apollo darting 
his fiery arrows among the Greeks, and involving in one common 
destruction the human being, the mule, the horse, the ox, and 
the dog. Lucretius, when describing the plague at Athens, 
speaks of a malignant epidemic affecting almost every animal— 
Nor longer birds at noon, nor beasts at night 
Their native woods deserted ; with the pest 
Remote they languished, and full frequent died: 
But chief the dog his generous strength resigned. 
The Cause of the Establishment of Veterinary Schools. —In 
1714 a malignant epidemic was imported from the continent, and 
in the course of a few months destroyed 70,000 head of cattle. 
It continued to visit other countries, with but short intervals, for 
fifty years afterw'ards. Out of evil, however, came good. The 
continental aOTiculturists were alarmed bv this destruction of 
(_^ _ 4/ 
their property. The different governments participated in the 
terror, and veterinary schools were established, in which the ana¬ 
tomy and diseases of cattle might be studied, and the cause and 
treatment of these periodical pests discovered; and from the 
time that this branch of medical science began to receive the 
attention it deserved, these epidemics, if they have not quite 
ceased, have changed their character, and have become com¬ 
paratively mild and manageable. As, however, they yet occur, 
and are far too fatal, I must endeavour to collect the symptoms, 
and point out the treatment of them. 
Symptoms of Malignant Epidemic. —In horses the disease 
was almost uniformly ushered in by the prevailing symptom of 
