USE AND ABUSE OF STRONG PURGATIVES IN CATTLE. 417 
swollen. I soon perceived it was a large abscess forming, and 
from that to the present time she has had eight or nine others 
formed in various parts of the body, tv/o or three frequently 
discharging at the same period. I merely applied blisters to 
facilitate their formation, and when sufficiently pointed I lanced 
them. I ordered her to have oats and vetches, of which she ate 
a considerable quantity to the last; and also that she should be 
horned with gruel and ale three or four times a-day; but, in de¬ 
fiance of all tonic food and medicine, she became daily more 
and more emaciated. 
The last time I visited my patient, was on the 3d of July. I 
found her with considerable oedema of the abdomen and extre¬ 
mities, presenting, in fact, one bloated mass. I informed the 
owner that there was no hope of recovery, and, at my instigation, 
he had her destroyed. 
On a post-mortem examination, the whole abdominal and 
thoracic viscera were perfectly healthy ; considerable masses of 
lymph, mixed with serous fluid, were found in the cellular mem¬ 
brane, and large quantities of pus were discovered in different 
parts of the body, deeply buried in the muscles. I wish to ob¬ 
serve, that the disease left her head after the breaking of the first 
abscess, otherwise the case would probably have terminated hi 
glanders. 
ON THE USE AND ABUSE OF STRONG PURGA¬ 
TIVES IN THE DISEASES OF CATTLE. 
Mr. Harrison, r.6\, Lancaster. 
That purgatives judiciously administered are, under peculiar 
circumstances, highly beneficial, I do not mean to deny or dis¬ 
pute ; but that free, and I will venture to call it injudicious 
custom of giving large and repeated doses, both practice and 
observation lead me to condemn : and particularly when the sto¬ 
machs, their structure, and functions, together with their food, 
as regards quality and quantity, are minutely considered, it must 
and will forcibly strike every observant and unprejudiced mind, 
that the free and indiscriminate use of drastic purgatives is 
at all times doubtful; in the generality of cases, highly repre¬ 
hensible, and often injurious. True it is, that there are cases • 
and circumstances which appear strongly to indicate their 
application ; but, beyond a certain point, I would (hi/ dear-bought 
experience) warn all veterinarians not to extend, but adopt a 
cautious method, and, by so doing, restore the animal to its 
former state of health, and save their own professional reputation. 
VOL. VI. 3 H 
