REPORTS OF CASES. 
267 
being taken that each animal has his daily dose, and its adminis¬ 
tration continued for some weeks if there appears any danger of 
the others falling down. Also insert a seton tape dressed with 
some suitable digestive in the dewlap and have it frequently 
drawn to and fro to keep up an irritation and discharge. 
It is only by following closely such a line of treatment that 
we can hope to eliminate the morbific material accumulating in 
the blood and again place the young herd on a healthy footing. 
It is almost yet premature to conjecture on the value of a pro¬ 
tective inoculation derived from the intra-venous injection of 
muscle-juice virus; on thought there is a good deal in it, and ex¬ 
periments made under the auspices of the Loyal Agricultural 
Society of England appear to yield such results as will probably 
on further pursuit demonstrate it efficacy and practicability. This 
letter is a special subject of which more anon. 
AMPUTATION OF A CAT’s LEG. 
It is just possible that amputation of injured limbs, though 
occasionally practiced in veterinary surgery, are not so often re¬ 
sorted to as might be the case, in order to prolong the life of a 
favorite pet, or still retain some special strain of blood particu¬ 
larly adapted for breeding purposes. Veterinary records, it is 
true, furnish us a few successful instances, but it is unhesitatingly 
asserted such might be further increased, did but the majority of 
practitioners still continue to study their anatomy after college 
days are past, and apply the same more fully in the every day 
routine of business. Fractured limbs I have had to treat in great 
numbers, some successfully, in others—from peculiarity or nature 
of fracture, excitability or like disposition, or age of the patient— 
with a contrary effect, but the only case in which amputation was 
called for yielded such an excellent result as to induce me to 
place it on record. During the time I was managing assistant to 
Professor Pritchard, the great veterinary pathologist of London, 
in his absence I was consulted by a gentleman in regard to a 
large favorite long-haired cat which unfortunately had its leg in¬ 
jured in a trap. I found the limb—the left fore—from above the 
carpus downwards to be completely smashed, discharging an of¬ 
fensive matter which clotted in with the hair, and apparently 
