SCOTTISH METROPOLITAN VETERINARY MEDICAL SOCIETY. 207 
which at the present time probably receive the greatest amount 
of support, and it is to these, the pyaemic and the dietetic, that 
I would more particularly request you to look at this time, not 
because I regard the rheumatic or scrofulous as undeserving of 
attention, but rather because of our limited time, and the greater 
probability or present belief, that in one or other of these views 
we will find the true cause of this malady. 
As I have already said, there is no doubt of the existence of 
metastatic pyaemia in the great majority of the cases of this 
arthritic disease, and particularly so in all outbreaks of an en¬ 
zootic type. It is also equally certain that accompanying, or it 
may be preceding, the general and local arthritic symptoms, we 
very frequently find inflammation of the veins and other struc¬ 
tures of the umbilical cord, and occasionally, also, thrombosis of 
the umbilical and other veins. That the origin of this morbid 
condition of the structures of the umbilical cord, and those other 
changes in the general vascular system, may in certain instances 
owe their existence and have as a starting-point the inoculation 
with septic matter through the medium of an open umbilicus, we 
are free to admit; but that in every case this inoculation is the cause 
and origin of the disseminated abscesses, and the state of general 
pyaemia, I must be allowed to say that to my mind there is not 
as yet sufficient evidence to place this conclusion beyond doubt. 
If to inoculation alone we are to look for the origin of omphalo- 
thrombo-phlebitis, diffuse abscesses, and general suppurative 
action, how are we to account for, and to what cause are we to 
look for, a similar condition in the foetus during intra-uterine life ? 
Again, many cases may be observed where both the constitu¬ 
tional and local symptoms of the disease are well-marked, and 
where the structural lesions peculiar to every well-marked out¬ 
break are present, including the usual tissue changes within and 
around the articulations, multiple abscesses in the liver and spleen, 
hyperplasia of lymphatic glands, thrombosis of large and small 
veins, alterations in serous membranes, &c., with an absence of 
any well-marked change in the umbilical cord. If the inocula¬ 
tion from without by septic material through the medium of the 
umbilicus, resulting in purulent omphalo-thrombo-phlebitis, 
diffuse abscesses, and a state of general pyaemia, is to be regarded 
as the only source, and is indicative of the true nature of this 
enzootic arthritis of young stock, we should hardly expect that 
its appearance amongst these young animals would be so fre¬ 
quently accompanied by so many marked and serious conditions 
of ill-health in the breeding animals, their dams, as it really is. 
Although the evidence in the support of the pyaemic origin, start¬ 
ing from inoculation of this arthritic disease, is powerful and well 
assorted, and although it is at the present time well handled and 
