WEST OF SCOTLAND VETERINARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 679 
compact, and of a reddish colour, while the exterior is soft and of 
a lighter tint. Occasionally we find a layer of jelly-like material 
thrown out between the tubercular mass and the cyst which en¬ 
closes it, the mass being, indeed, connected to it, but easily sepa¬ 
rable from it. This was beautifully exemplified in the liver of 
the cock to which I have before referred. 
Production by Inoculation. —Such a mass of evidence is now 
obtainable on this point that it would seem almost marvellous 
that any authority should deny the production of tubercle by 
inoculation. The opponents of inoculation state that the presence 
of tubercular matter in animals that have been operated upon is 
simply a coincidence; but it is absurd to suppose that in every 
case out of the numerous experiments that have been instituted 
this is so. 
Professor Williams and myself have each succeeded in pro¬ 
pagating it by this method. Paraskera and Zallonis, of Syria, in 
Greece, in the Lancet of June 8th, cite five experiments on 
rabbits, where tubercle was produced by inoculation, and one in 
a man ; but inasmuch as the latter was suffering at the time from 
a debilitating disease, it can scarcely be looked upon as a fair 
experiment. M. Desmartis, of Pourdeaux, succeeded in the 
inoculation of plants with tubercular matter, thus showing its 
extraordinary vitality and reproductive powers. M. Villemin has 
conducted a number of experiments, alternating them, upon a 
variety of animals, nearly all of which tend to the establishment 
of the inoculative theory; further, the latter authority states that 
the matter which is produced at the seat of the inoculation is 
equally as capable of generating tubercle as is the lymph of small¬ 
pox of generating that disease, and that abortion or premature 
death of the offspring frequently follows the operation; no doubt 
from the impure condition of the blood, as is frequently seen to 
be the case when the system is labouring under the effects of any 
other specific virus, as in pleuro-pneumonia, rinderpest, &c. 
Enzootic , or Sporadic character. —Does tubercle ever occur 
in this form? Undoubtedly it does. I have seen it on 
several occasions rage in quite a sporadic manner. In a very 
short radius near Bolton, in Lancashire, about eighteen months 
ago, a larger number of cattle died from this disease than had 
been known for many previous years, one knacker alone having 
upwards of twenty carcases. Mr. Lowe, of Bolton, in a com¬ 
munication on the subject to me since, attributed this outbreak 
to the wet season which prevailed some time previously. 
Yirchow says, “ It seems probable that tubercle may be at 
times epidemicand “ as with plants, so with tumours, certain 
seasons of the year produce an increased growth.” 
Spontaneous Generation. —Tubercle is capable of spontaneous 
xl v. 46 
