554 AN UNUSUAL CASK OK HERNIA IN A COW. 
of pleasure and pain like ourselves. If I have succeeded in this, 
surely I may be indulged if the reputation I have acquired for 
general science, at home and abroad, has tempted me to spend a 
few leisure hours in deeper and yet not unuseful pursuits.” The 
truth was, M. Abildgaard was a century before many of the 
blockheads of his profession, and he shared the inevitable fate of 
such men. He lived, however, to witness the full success of his 
labours, and the school at Copenhagen continues to flourish. 
AN UNUSUAL CASE OF HERNIA IN A COW. 
By Mr. G. W. Allinson, of Pateley Bridge , Yorkshire . 
» r 
• 
On the 6th of May, I was first called on to visit an aged cow 
that had a swelling on the near side, occupyfrig the middle of the 
ribs from the eighth to the twelfth. She was with calf, and 
within three weeks of her time ; had been milked for the two 
previous years without having a calf; had twice given birth to 
two and once to three calves at a time. 
Appearance and Symptoms .—She was a large, half-bred, loose- 
made animal, low in condition. I found the enlargement neither 
hard nor circumscribed, her appetite good, dejections natural, the 
pulse regular, and, with the exception of the swelling, not the 
smallest symptom of disease. After a careful examination, I gave 
as my opinion that she was with two calves; one of them in an 
unnatural position, and probably dead, and that this cedematous 
swelling was merely symptomatic. This, the owner said, was 
impossible, as the enlargement was on the wrong side to be caused 
by the calves; and I left him, unable to convince him of the pos¬ 
sibility of my opinion being correct. He came the next day, re¬ 
questing me to see her again, having, he said, made inquiry of 
every person “ likely and unlikely ;” but they all declined giving 
an opinion on the case, except one man, who said it was fellon # ; 
but this the owner would not believe, though the man offered to 
remove the swelling and cure the cow in two or three days. On 
a re-examination, I felt satisfied with my previous statement, for 
the swelling had increased. The place she was in being small, I 
had her removed into the barn, that she might have plenty of 
room to lie down and rise in. I ordered her to be well supplied 
with straw for bedding; took away five quarts of blood, ccat 
* Fellon—felon. Perhaps some of your correspondents will inform me 
of the derivation of this word: I have made a little search for it without 
success. - . 
