160 
INCOGNITOS. 
is it not reasonable to infer, nay, is it not absolutely certain, that 
they would be obstructed in the lungs and that pulmonary, not 
cerebral apoplexy would be the result and the primary lesiou ? 
And moreover, it might be pertinently askbd, does the uterus 
always contract forcibly and quickly, and are its vessels always 
“ in that pristine condition necessary to prevent the admission of 
thrombi into the circulation,” in old and debilitated animals, in 
poor milkers, and after a difficult parturition ? 
The theory of cerebral hyperaemia, or rather the Traube-Kosen- 
berg theory as adopted and supported by Franck and Fleming, 
except that the cerebral congestion is not followed by oedema and 
anaemia, is certainly worthy of careful consideration, inasmuch as 
it is sustained by the clinical history and pathological anatomy and 
explains more fully and satisfactorily, than any other yet pro¬ 
pounded, the complex phenomena of the disease. 
The cerebral hyperaemia is a result of increased aortic pres¬ 
sure and cerebral excitement consequent on the act of 
parturition. The increased aortic pressure is produced by a 
physiological hypertrophy of the heart and an increased vascular 
fulness which are always present in advanced pregnancy; by the 
excessive plethora so common in deep milking cows when dry 
or nearly so ; and by the large quantity of blood, required by the 
uterus during the latter stages of utero-gestation, being thrown 
back on the system after parturition. 
The fact that parturient apoplexy is more common in the 
best milking strains of well bred cattle is explained by the fact 
that they are, as a rule, better cared for and that deep milkers 
become much more plethoric when dry or nearly so, as just be¬ 
fore calving. It seldom occurs before the third and after the 
seventh calf, because between those periods the animal has 
reached maturity, but has not yet begun to decline, and it is 
therefore more disposed to plethora, while the act of parturition 
occasions less constitutional shock and exhaustion. 
The cow is rendered more susceptible to the disease than 
other animals because by domestication and careful breeding she 
has been converted into a mere milking machine, as it were. 
The reasoning which says that were the mental excitement 
