PRACTICE OF \ ETERI NARY MEDICINE. 
125 
healthy stimulus, the stimulus which pure blood alone can yield. 
The effusion of serum at the base of the brain most probably oc¬ 
curred after death, when the vessels had become relaxed from loss 
of tonicity in their component tissues. 
It is very surprising that this disease, so fatal as it is, and must 
from its very nature continue to be, unless proper measures are 
energetically adopted to arrest its progress, should be entirely 
omitted from the works of every veterinary author with which I 
am acquainted, save that of Mr. Percivall’s, in which a short de¬ 
scription of it will be found under the denomination of “ Con¬ 
gestive Pneumony;” the account, however, in this instance is very 
brief, and of necessity incomplete. 
Certainly it may be urged, that, when this disease manifests 
itself in the horse, it more frequently does so rather as a secondary 
than a primary disorder; but this is of no consequence, for the 
veterinarian in either case has to cope with no less a reality; and, 
in short, such a fact more forcibly proves the necessity of its pa¬ 
thology being better understood, in order that its insidious com¬ 
mencement may be at once detected, and, if possible, its fatal ter¬ 
mination checked. That it does occur somewhat as a primary 
disease, is proved by Case III in the present paper; and I attri¬ 
bute the recovery of the animal solely to the promptness of the 
remedial measures taken: had it been allowed to linger a 
little longer, possibly no earthly power could have availed in the 
matter. 
With regard to the treatment of this disease, a few observations 
respecting it may not be out of place. Mr. Percivall says that 
“ Blood-letting is the only remedy to save a horse in this state 
but with this I do not altogether agree. The necessity for bleeding 
will depend entirely upon the stage the disease may have attained 
when the veterinarian is called in. Should he be so fortunate as 
to arrive at an early stage of the proceedings, and find the pulse 
presenting that hard, heaving character, the abstracting of blood 
will be attended with speedy benefit; but if the pulse cannot 
be detected, and a deep state of unconsciousness be present, 
bleeding at such a stage would be very questionable. Powerful 
stimulants must first be had recourse to, and every means adopted 
the tendency of which are to rouse the natural energies; then, if 
he succeeds in this respect, bleeding might possibly prove of great 
benefit. 
One apparent difficulty which may occur with respect to this 
disease is, that it might be mistaken for haemorrhage of some of the 
internal viscera, the symptoms in many respects being precisely 
similar. In haemorrhage of the liver, for instance, the patient 
becomes deathy cold : partial sweats exist, attended with loss of 
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