82 
CORRESPONDENCE. 
New York dealer’s cow, yet never fall victims to this disease nor 
propagate it among the native cattle when stopped fifty miles west 
of New York. The same is true of the western cows. 
Professor William’s letter is addressed to Mr. Laidlaw of Al¬ 
bany, and purports to be founded on information furnished by 
him. What right Mr. L. has to speak on the state of the Bliss- 
ville cattle I know not, as he is not known to have been present 
at any post mortem there and could not well be without our per¬ 
mission. We do know, however, that he has written in the inter¬ 
est of a small clique of obstructives who testified in the public 
prints to there not being a sick animal in the stables , and one of 
whom had been a student under himself. This clique repre¬ 
sented the “ New York College of Veterinary Surgeons,” Pro¬ 
fessor and Dr. Going and Professor Finlay. It not only “ em¬ 
phatically ” denied the pneumonia theory, but as above quoted 
denied the existence of sickness altogether. It matters little to 
them apparently that Professor Spitzka whom they invited to ac¬ 
company them says that “a thorough examination would neither 
be permitted nor was it desired,” and further “ that they found 
more diseased cattle, and far more intensely diseased individual 
cases, than Dr. Liautard, who examined the same cattle two or 
three days previous.” As little does it seem to matter to this 
party that when present by permission at our first killing under 
the State authority at Blissville, they w r ere invited to select any 
of the condemned animals for post mortem examination, they 
availed themselves of the offer, and found in the animal they 
supposed to be sound, the most perfect specimens of enlarged 
and consolidated lung, the result of pleuro-pneumonia. 
A remark in Prof. Williams’ letter seems to imply that he had 
been informed the lungs were collapsed. A collapsed lung is one 
with all the air expelled, so that the size of the organ is greatly 
diminished, its color changed to a dull red, and its weight un¬ 
changed. If slightly dropsical as well, the weight will be slightly 
increased and the color of a bluish red (splenization). If still 
more dropsical, the weight is greater, but the lung becomes clear 
and translucent, like liquid gelatine or frog’s spawn. Now, in the 
lungs of the condemned cattle selected for examination by the 
