282 
SOCIETY MEETINGS 
other alkaloid, providing they gave it in ball form, but if administered as ; 
draught the chances were they would kill their subject. Mr. Hurnddll, replyinj 
on the discussion, said he did not underate the power of nature, but contend* 
that nature was incapable of doing all that was required. Relying upon natur 
unaided was like trusting to a broken reed. He agreed that they could not cur 
disease, but could only assist nature, and that was what he aimed at. He regret® 
the introduction of the term “homoeopathy.” His object had been, not to sustai 
the principles of homoeopathy, but to convince them that investigation into th 
action of drugs was an essential at this time. He admitted that the principles b 
advocated was adopted by homceopatkists, but that was an entirely diffcrontyaa 
ter. His practice might be a limited one, but he invariably trusted to aconite 1 
cases of colic, and he had yet to lose his first case ; On the motion of Mr. Wragi 
a vote of thanks was given to Mr. Hurndall for his paper. 
MIORO-PARASITE IN ANIMALS. 
The next subject taken up was “Notes on some of the micro-parasites of tl 
domesticated animals,” by Professsr M’Fadyean, of the royal Veterinary Colleg. 
and Dr. Sims Woodhead, Pathologist to the Royal Infirmary, in which the 
treated of splenic apoplexy, splenic fever, anthrax, quarter-evil, black-ta 
glanders, swine fever, tubercle in the udders of cattle and in milk, and loupin 
ill. Having narrated the symptoms of the various diseases, and given a resun 
of the investigations by scientists, the essayists indicate the conclusions at whu 
they have arrived. With regard to anthrax, they are of opinion—(1) That Fast* 
has succeeded in preparing a vaccin by the employment of which the domes! 
ruminants are put in possession of a high degree of immunity against spontaneo 
or inoculated anthrax ; (2) that by no known method of attenuation can them 
obtained a vaccin of absolutely uniform strength ; (3) that it is not possib e 
obtain a vaccin that is at once and equally applicable to all the different spe 
of domestic animals, or even to all the different breeds of the same species, a 
(4) that, even in the most capable hands, accidents capable of entailing serin 
results may happen in the preparation of vaccin, or in its employment. ea' 
with louping-ill in sheep, the writers combat at length the views o 
Williams, in his report to the Highland and Agricultural Society m im 
which he claimed to have proved that the disease was of a micro-parasitic nat 
being caused by a bacillus. Why, they ask, “if Professor Williams suspec 
the presence of a micro-organism in the ticks, did he not examine the tick direct 
instead of taking the round-about method of incubating the tick in mu on i 
Ao-ain, does Professor Williams really mean anybody to believe that he ever s 
ceeded in getting a pure cultivation by incubating a tick ? or does he . 
he could find a tick anywhere whose body is germ-free? We really would 
to credit Professor Williams with this belief, were it not that we have to c > 
between that and believing that he attempted, in his reports, to pla> a u .- e 1 
at the expense of the non-scientific members of the Highland and Agricu 
Society. And, again, we fail to see the necessity of bringing in the tick to 
plain the mode of infection of the sheep. If there was a difficulty in un< 
standing how the organism could gain access to the system of a sheep except 
the inoculation of a tick, it still remains to explain the mystery of how the on 
