636 
SUPPOSED LARYNGEAL DISEASE. 
Our wild species are mostly found in calcareous districts, 
and they are undoubtedly very active plants, too much so, 
indeed, to make it safe for their use in rustic practice. Still, 
as decoctions of their leaves are used as applications to 
sores in cattle, we think, acting as poison to the different 
kinds of vermin by which these are too often produced, the 
plant is of service to the farrier, and might be used by the 
veterinary practitioner with advantage. 
A foreign species, the H. niger , which is well known in 
our gardens under the name of the Christmas rose, is the one 
usually employed, and for this purpose its roots are collected 
in considerable quantity, being obtained from the wood¬ 
land regions in the midland and southern parts of Europe, 
and is imported from Hamburgh and Marseilles. There is 
reason to think that our native species are used and sold 
for or with the black hellebore both at home and abroad. 
The only preparation made use of it in human practice is 
that of the tincture, and that principally in cases of dropsy, 
but its use is exceedingly limited. 
The fact is, that in hellebore, as in so many other plants 
of the order, the effects are so uncertain that its use may be 
highly dangerous. 
It is said that cattle have died from eating only a small 
amount of the fresh plant. It is therefore important to get 
rid of it in cattle runs, or to be cautious how these 
creatures can get access to it. 
SUPPOSED LARYNGEAL DISEASE. 
A correspondent, “ T. H. P./’ has asked us to give 
insertion to the following note relating to a case of supposed 
laryngeal disease: 
Dear Sirs,—I have at present under my treatment a 
case which to me is very unusual, and I should feel obliged 
for your opinion, or some of your numerous readers thereon. 
About three months since a client of mine gave a Cupiss 
ball to a four-year old gelding, which was suffering from 
lymphangitis. On the first attempt at giving the ball (with 
a balling gun) it lodged in the throat and the animal coughed 
it up, but the second attempt with a fresh ball was suc¬ 
cessful, the ball being swallowed without any difficulty. 
Since that time the horse has a bad cough, and occasionally 
a discharge from the nostrils, for which I have treated him. 
The throat has been blistered, and demulcents, &c., freely 
