I 
262 
LTJCIDFS ORDO* 
range of intelligible comprehension. The names it has receive* 
are misleading and deceptive and inevitably defeat the ends o 
scientific veterinary medicine. Most writers upon the subject o 
parturient apoplexy ascribe it to plethora and indigestion fro# 
over-stimulation and want of exercise, with subsequent derangt 
ment of the sympathetic nervous system, followed by eongestio: 
of the brain and apoplexy. Cerebral congestion is an heirlooi 
of a departed pathology. Cases in which the pronounced sytn f 
toms of apoplexy in the parturient cow can be ascribed to activ 
congestion arc few. It has been truthfully said that eongestio. 
of the brain as well as impaction of the stomach is a ready diat 
nostic refuge, seductive in its simplicity, and pleasing in il 
preciseness, easily affirmed, and not easily disproved, (Gowers. 
The discovery of the vaso-motor system of nerves, showing 1 ; 
that the circulation, secretions and general nutrition of the tissue 
are under the control of special nerves—(vaso-constrictors an 
vaso dilators and trophic nerves)—enables us to understan 
something of the loss of function that results from what we ca 
irritation. 
Claude Bernard has shown that the loss of consciousness cli 
to anaesthesia from chloroform is absolutely analagous to wh 
takes place when the sensory nerves succumb to abstraction < 
blood, or that troubles of sensibility manifest themselves at tl 
periphery. Excessive and prolonged irritation depresses tl 
vaso-motor centers and relaxes the vessels (Bartholow). Wht 
this occurs there is stagnation of blood in the abdominal vessel 
When this paralytic relaxation passes certain limits, the abdon 
nal vessels are capable of holding the whole of the blood 
motion. Thus is explained the paleness of the eyes and visi 
mucous membranes, the coldness of the head, horns and extren 
ties, the unequal distribution of the surplus heat of the truu 
the subnormal temperature, the coma and paialysis. When 
lesions are of a destructive kind, depression of the trophic cente, 
as well as the vaso-motor centers, ensues. When the brain 
suddenly deprived of blood, one effect is often to cause conv 
sions. Thus the first result of failing functions may be t 
liberation of energy. These considerations enable us to un < 
