652 
F. H. P. EDWARDS. 
is a very active agent and possesses much virtue in destroying 
the pyogenic membranes or pus-secreting walls; second, that 
it is also very active in setting up healthy granulations, which 
is no minor factor in this class of troubles ; third, where the 
use of this agent is exclusively followed up with hydrogen 
peroxide, not neglecting the external cleansing and lubricat¬ 
ing, quicker and better results are obtained. 
PNEUMONITIS. 
By F. H. P. Edwards, Iowa City, Iowa. 
(A paper read before the Iowa State Veterinary Medical Association.) 
In defining the disease of the lungs known as pneumonitis, 
we would say that it was an inflammation of the entire lung 
substance, either general or local, with the cause still a matter 
of dispute. This may seem somewhat unsatisfactory, but 
with existing knowledge of the subject we cannot make our 
definition otherwise. 
Taking up the subject in a scientific order, we would first 
come to causation. 
Causes may be divided into two classes, viz., predisposing 
and exciting. Under the predisposing may be enumerated— 
exposure to cold, ill-ventilated stables, debility, dampness, etc. 
The exciting causes — traumatism, inhalation of noxious va¬ 
pors, introduction of foreign bodies through the trachea into 
the lungs, and last, though not least, the direct action of a 
germ which may, for the sake of convenience, as well as serv¬ 
ing to disguise our ignorance, be denominated the pneumo¬ 
coccus. 
Now, although we do not know positively that pneumon¬ 
itis is caused by a germ, still we have some very eminent 
observers who claim such to be the case, and who claim to 
have demonstrated the germ spoken of above. Inasmuch as 
we have no other tenable theory to adhere to, and until it is 
demonstrated to the contrary, I prefer to believe that pneu¬ 
monitis is specific in its nature, and that it can only result 
from the direct action of the specific germ. 
