166 
J. S. LAMKIN. 
your feet and a lamp unto your path.” The etiology of par¬ 
turient apoplexy has called forth a variety of opinions from 
different authorities who have given the subject particular care 
and observation. Some consider it due to a specific element in 
the blood ; some to an accumulation of milk-producing elements 
in the blood, giving rise to fever and blood poisoning ; to an 
overloading of the system with blood, causing nervous dis¬ 
orders. Others, notably Professors Williams and Barlow, con¬ 
sidered it a disorder of the sympathetic nervous system, while 
still a few others consider it due to a germ which is very ten¬ 
acious of life, and may, like anthrax, be carried long distances 
in the hay or grain grown on infected soil. 
While I am not able to give any irrefutable reason for “ the 
faith that is within me,” nor explain the workings of the effect 
of the cause to which I attribute the disorder, I feel that par¬ 
turient apoplexy is caused by an enriched condition of the 
blood due to too high feeding, without sufficient exercise for 
some weeks prior to parturition ; and that in some inexpli¬ 
cable manner, this fullness of the system acting on the nervous 
system causes the phenomena presented in the disease. It is 
seen more often in finely-bred cows than among common mixed 
breeds under similar conditions. And in my experience, at 
least, is never seen in thin, poorly-fed animals, nor among cows 
that are out of doors all of the time and are fed but little grain. 
In the West, where I was somewhat extensively engaged in 
cattle-raising some years ago, where thousands of cows are giv¬ 
ing birth to their young every spring and summer, I never saw 
a case, although many of them were very fat at the time of par¬ 
turition. I attribute this immunity entirely to light grain 
rations, when fed grain at all, and plenty of exercise. Even 
among ordinary farmers’ cows of this and adjoining States, the 
disease is very rarely seen ; but wherever cows are highly fed up 
to, or near parturition, especially if they be finely-bred animals, 
the disorder is often present. 
Eike azoturia in the horse, it seems to arise from too much 
rich albuminous food, which under an exciting cause, not per- 
