762 
VACCINATION AND EQUINE DISEASES. 
the spine^ and, if fatal, finally the ganglionic cells of the 
heart. The effects of chloral on animals are identical with 
those of chloroform. The absence of the stage of excitement 
may be explained by the more gradual formation of chlo¬ 
roform within the animal body—actually in the tissues of the 
body, even in the brain itself. Liebreich tried also the effect 
of chloral on man, in the Charite, at Berlin. The first expe¬ 
riment was made on an insane person, by subcutaneous 
injection, at first of very small doses. No local irritation took 
place. One dose of about twenty grains of hydrate of chloral 
produced five houiV sleep. 
In another case of a patient suffering from stupor and 
melancholia fifty grains of chloral in a wineglassful of water 
produced sleep during sixteen hours. In a very painful in¬ 
flammation of the wrist-joint in a woman, forty grains of 
chloral produced sufficient anaesthesia to admit of the painless 
application of an apparatus. In every case the sleep was 
normal, and followed in about five minutes after the adminis¬ 
tration of chloral. 
VACCINATION AND EQUINE DISEASES.* 
To the Editor. 
Sir, —The value of vaccination as a preservative from the 
cruel effects of small-pox is a subject of the utmost import¬ 
ance to the whole world, and cannot be looked upon with 
indifference by any nation, community, creed or profession. 
AVe have been so long accustomed to look upon it as an 
assured defence against this scourge of the human species, 
and the evidence that it is and has proved itself to be so in 
nearly every region of the globe is so overwhelming, that the 
agitation recently set up against the compulsory adoption of 
this protective measure might almost appear unworthy of 
notice, if it were not attended with such serious consequences 
to individuals who resist the law. This agitation appears to 
be increasing, owing to the exertions of some persons, and 
we may expect the number of those who object to vaccina¬ 
tion, and who will not submit their children to its supposed 
risks, to increase with the spread of the excitement. 
It is therefore to the interest of every one to know on what 
basis the agitation is founded, and whether these, again, are 
supported by facts sufficient in number and powerful enough 
in character to warrant their being accepted as trustworthy. 
* Standard, Sept. 3rd, 1869. 
