666 
TETANUS ARISING FROM CASTRATION. 
substance of the lung. In cutting into this tumour I found a needle 
in its centre, with its point sticking in one of the ribs. In addi¬ 
tion to this abscess, the lung was greatly tuberculous throughout 
its parenchymatous structure. The left lung also was considerably 
diseased, and the mucous membrane of the trachea was of a green¬ 
ish hue. 
There is no improbability in the supposition that the needle had 
its seat in the lung previous to the day of sale, from the fact of the 
cow having a cough from that period, and gradually getting worse 
until she died. I believe the needle was the whole and sole cause 
of the disease; first causing inflammation, and that progressing 
through the different stages until it ended in death. 
The query is, How did the needle get there ? There can be 
little doubt that the cow must have swallowed it in the act of feed¬ 
ing, and that it made its way through the esophagus as it passes 
through the chest, towards the right lung, where it took up its seat. 
I am, Sir, yours respectfully. 
Greenock, 8th Nov. 1849. 
TETANUS ARISING FROM CASTRATION—A LEGAL 
QUESTION. 
By James K. Lord, M.R.C.V.S ., Tavistock. 
On Friday morning, the 19th of October, 1849,1 was requested 
to proceed at once to see a horse that was very ill, about four 
miles from my residence. On inquiring of the person who came, 
what he fancied was the matter with the horse, I received the 
usual answer, “ Violent inflammation .” This same inflammation 
seems to assume, in their minds, the shape of some Bogey , or evil 
spirit, that, by some means, obtains an entrance into a poor 
quadruped, and there obstinately remains, until, by forcible means, 
he is either killed or bolted; for it is a great secret, to kill inflam¬ 
mation, or, as we say in Devonshire, to “ dra 'em oat." But to 
go on with my case. I at once started, and on arriving at the 
stable, immediately saw that it was a case of tetanus , and that of 
no ordinary degree. I cannot furnish a better illustration of the 
poor animal’s appearance, than by comparing him to one of those 
wooden horses, with four straight legs, which children use as toys. 
He was standing just as stiff and rigid; every muscle of volition 
seemed to be in a state of spasm. The neck extended and fixed, 
as though it was marble. The eyes anxious, and telling, in lan- 
