LIVERPOOL VETERINARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, 123 
specially directed thereby to a new theory of the disease, pro¬ 
pounded by that remarkable man, George -Fleming, in his lately 
published work, 'Veterinary Obstetrics/ A man so untiring 
in his efforts for the good of the profession, and so encyclopaedic 
in his knowledge, as to make one almost wonder if he eats, 
drinks, and sleeps like other men. 
On the importance or utility of the subject I need not 
enlarge. 
To all those engaged in country practice, and who often have 
to face the humiliating fact of frequent inability to cure, it is 
hardly possible to exaggerate the importance of a correct know¬ 
ledge of the nature of this most interesting and frequently fatal 
malady. And even when viewed by the lights of physiology 
and pathology, its phenomena afford food for reflection and room 
for speculation to some of the largest minds engaged in the 
study of medicine, for it is at once one of the most abstruse 
and intricate conditions in the whole domain of pathological 
physiology; occurring as it does in the bovine female only, and 
only in certain well defined conditions in her, alike interesting 
for the frequency and fatality of the attack, no less than the 
suddenness of termination. And even, although by the lights 
of physiology and pathology, we may not be able to combat or 
cure such a complex condition as it is admitted to be, it behoves 
us all as men, claiming to belong to a learned profession, to 
know all we can regarding it, and be able to render a reasonable 
and intelligent explanation of its phenomena when called upon 
so to do. And no explanation can be considered reasonable or 
intelligent now-a-days, unless it accords with the Frenchman's 
dictum, “ that no scientific theory can be considered complete 
until it is so clear that it can be explained to the first man you 
meet in the street/' 
Nor is it any reproach to our branch of medical science if we 
are unable to cope with this fell destroyer in the matter of cure ; 
when we reflect on the many incurable conditions to which the 
human family is subject, with its more highly trained practi¬ 
tioners and investigators. 
Think of the loathsome and awfully fatal malady of parturient 
fever in the human female, which seems to laugh and mock at 
all attempts to stay its deadly ravages. 
The few remarks I shall have to make may doubtless be re¬ 
garded by many practical minded men here as too theoretical. 
Without anticipating your conclusions, however, I may be per¬ 
mitted to say that there is too much of a prejudice in the present 
day against the man of theory, by men who glory in the euphe¬ 
mistic phrase of practical, and who sneer at all advances in 
pathology. It may be true of some theoretical men that they 
