ON THE BLAIN. 
87 
every part is furnished with nutriment' —is of a correspondent]y 
more perfect description. And the nervous texture—that which 
vitalizes every part, and infuses the spirit of exertion into it—is 
such as to endow it with more life and spirit, or life and spirit of 
a super-excellent kind. 
[To be continued.] 
ON THE BLAIN, OR VESICULAR SWELLING UNDER 
THE TONGUE IN HORSES, CATTLE, AND DOGS. 
By Mr. W. You An. 
[Read at the Veterinary Medical Society, January 26, 1831.] 
There is a vesicular enlargement on the lateral and under part 
of the tongue in horses, oxen, and dogs, which, although not of 
unfrequent occurrence, and peculiarly fatal in cattle, has not 
been sufficiently noticed by veterinary authors. By writers on 
cattle medicine it is recognised under the title of the Blain. In 
the horse and the dog it is often unaccompanied by previous in¬ 
disposition, or by any other disease. The^ animal refuses his 
food; there is a copious discharge of saliva, at first, limpid and 
without smell, but soon becoming purulent, bloody, and exceed- 
ingly foetid. On examination the tongue is found apparently 
enlarged ; it is elevated from its bed between the maxil lary bones ; 
and on the side and towards the base of it are seen large vesicles, 
pellucid, red, livid, or purple; and if the discharge be foetid, 
having near their bases, ulcers irregular, unhealthy, or gan- 
" grenous. 
In the horse and the dog the progress of the disease is slow; 
it seldom extends beyond' the sides of the tongue: the vesicles 
are not of such magnitude as to interfere with respiration, and 
the ulcers are neither many nor foul. 1 n cattle it is sadly different. 
The bladders attain an enormous size, they quickly break, and 
form deep ulcerations, and are immediately succeeded by other 
vesicles still larger. The whole membrane of the mouth becomes 
affected: the inflammation and swelling extend to the cellular 
substance of the neighbouring parts, and the head and neck are 
considerably, and sometimes enormously, enlarged. The respi¬ 
ratory passages are obstructed; the animal breathes with the 
greatest difficulty, and is, in some cases, literally suffocated, 
ihe course of the disease is likewise in cattle strangely rapid. 
Ihe beast occasionally dies in twenty-four hours from the first 
attack. At other times fever rapidly succeeds, of a typhoid or 
malignant form/ 
