36 
THE CASTRATING ECRASEUR. 
On making & post-mortem examination I found the lungs, 
heart, bowels, and kidneys healthy, hut the liver was en¬ 
larged to twice its natural size, and studded over with 
hundreds of small abscesses, about the size of a walnut, con¬ 
taining a yellow and thick pus. The uterus contained a dark¬ 
looking substance, about the size of a man’s fist, which 
upon further examination proved to be the remains of the 
skeleton of the foetus pressed into the mass. The coats of 
the uterus were thickened. Some of the bones, which I 
forward for your inspection, I consider to be unusually de¬ 
veloped at the points of ossification, considering that the 
cow was not more than four months gone in calf at the 
time of my first visit. I should like to know if you think 
the storm had anything to do with the case in the first 
place, and if the state of the liver was due to pyaemia. 
[We thank Mr. Hewens for forwarding the bones alluded 
to, which did not to our minds present anything unusual in 
their development. 
Many cases of a similar kind have come under our notice, 
and several years ago we remember to have met with the 
osseous remains of a foetus in the uterus of a cow which was 
extra fat at the time she was killed by a butcher. 
It is not unlikely that the death of the foetus depended on 
exposure of the cow to the storm, but we do not think that 
the sudden death of the cow was connected with the retention 
of the foetus, but rather with the condition of the liver. The 
absorption of animal matter in a state of change very possibly 
might have led to the deposits in the liver; but without having 
had an opportunity of examining the organ we are necessarily 
unable to speak with any confidence on this point.— Eds.] 
THE CASTRATING ECRASEUR. 
Letter from G. W. Bowler, M.D., V.S., Cincinnati, Ohio. 
On reading over the last number of the Veterinarian I find 
considerable importance is attached to the use of the ecraseur 
as an instrument for castrating, &c. 
The castrating ecraseur is spoken of in your Journal as a 
recent and valuable discovery in veterinary science, and I must 
say that I am not alone in expressing myself as surprised that 
English veterinarians should be so many years behind the 
times as regards improvements in veterinary science, when we 
take into consideration the advantages they enjoy in receiving 
Government support for its advancement. 
