OVERSTOCKING COWS. 
531 
Here, then, we may well conclude our short history of a 
tribe of plants which would require a large volume to eluci¬ 
date all their interesting details, and it is not too much to 
say that although much has already been written upon the 
natural order, there are still many species which would amply 
repay a more extensive inquiry. 
OVERSTOCKING COWS — OBSERVATIONS ON 
THE LATE TRIAL AT LEEDS. 
By J. W. Hill, M.R.C.V.S., Wolverhampton. 
I read with pleasure the communication from Professor 
Walley in our journal of last month on the subject of over¬ 
stocking cows, in its especial relation to the late trial at 
Leeds. It is and ever has been in my opinion an act of 
cruelty to allow a cow’s udder to become so distended with 
milk from long retention that the secretion is not only 
increased in temperature to a degree indicating fever, but 
that the contractile power of the duct being no longer 
sufficient to restrain it, it is forced out in that unhealthy 
condition named by Mr. Fearnley. However elastic the 
tissue may be that supports the mammary gland (and it is 
undoubtedly very elastic), this tissue must be strained far 
beyond its natural limits ere an overflow of milk can take 
place. I cannot, therefore, but think that any man who has 
one spark of feeling in his breast for the dumb animal which 
it is his privilege to own, attend or prize, and one whose 
valuable properties are far too great to be abused, must see, 
whether looking at it professionally or otherwise, that the 
system of overstocking cows, especially to the extent it is now 
carried on, is, without doubt, both unnatural and cruel. If 
custom is to decide such cases it is but of little use having a 
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals—a society 
whose aim it is to protect from unmerciful hands some of the 
noblest works of creation, and one which England has justly 
cause to be proud of. 
If we look through veterinary jurisprudence generally, 
we may think the evidence of veterinary surgeons not perhaps 
so strong as it might be, and possibly, as a rule, the nature of 
the complaint or charge is not gone so fully into as when 
discussed amongst members of the profession themselves ; 
however this may be, I thought Mr. Fearley’s evidence, so 
far as it was reported, was clear and to the point—in fact, quite 
sufficient to establish the case as one of cruelty. 
