EUROPEAN CHRONICLES. 
253 
remarks, he has never met with any accidents or fatal compli¬ 
cations that are attributed to the operation. The name and 
reputation of Professor Cadiot, and the written evidences 
that he presented to that meeting, with the oral statements 
made by some for whom he has operated, will do mnch towards 
the value of the operation. The results that have been ob¬ 
tained by veterinarians in the United States, and specially by 
Professor Harger, who has published many cases of his own, 
will receive a certain amount of confirmation by those so well 
presented by our French collaborator. We take pleasure in 
recording them, and hope that our friends in America may also 
contribute towards the history of an operation which seems to 
have already rendered so much service. Of course, arytenec- 
tomy will not always be followed by success ; there is no surgi¬ 
cal operation which can be considered as being positive in its 
result ; but, when it is considered that good animals, well made 
for work, were from a worthless condition returned to their 
owner, and for years have been able to render valuable services, 
it speaks for itself. 
Agave Americana. —Though of an excessive modesty, Mr. 
Decroix, a pensioned army veterinarian, has to his professional 
credit many^ valuable titles for works related to his profession; 
and, if it was nothing else but the paternity that belongs to him 
of the use of horseflesh for food on the continent, it would be 
enough. But, notwithstanding his 78 years of age, Mr. Decroix 
is still a hard worker and a great investigator. I saw him a few 
days ago : he was carrying on both of his arms the marks of 
severe counter-irritation ; the right was swollen, the seat of an 
extensive redness, as from the severe application of a mustard 
poultice, kept on for a long while ; the left arm was not so se¬ 
verely affected. These effects were the result of an experiment 
which he had tried upon himself to test the properties of a plant, 
the Agave Ame 7 'icana (vulgarly but improperly called aloes), 
which he had seen used by the natives during his campaigns in 
Africa. He went further, and tried to find what effects the 
