REVIEWS. 155

as having been the path by which the bacilli had gained an entrance into the tissues. This is in marked contrast to the path of infection in man and in cattle, in which species the primary lesions are far more frequently located in the lungs. What can be the explanation of this? Clearly it is not that there is anything in the horse's lungs opposed to infection, for in a great many cases of equine tuberculosis these organs became secondarily affected. The better ventilation of stables as com­pared with byres, and the fact that horses as a rule spend a consider­able part of their time out of doors, may have something to do with the rarity of primary pulmonary lesions; but that, of course, would not explain the frequency of alimentary tuberculosis in the horse. Is it possible that the administration of cow's milk to horses is some­times the means of infecting them with tuberculosis? VvTe are not inclined to give a positive answer to this question, nor can we say that the suggestion is altogether improbable. Milk, we believe, is not rarely prescribed for sick and debilitated horses at the present time, and the possibility of infection in that way cannot be denied.

1. Die Fleischbeschauwesen im Deutschen Reiche nebst Vorschlagen fUr dessen gesetzliche Regelung. Von Dr Georg Schneidemiihl.

2. Ueber Immunitat und Schutzimpfung. Von Dr O. Lubarsch. Leipzig: Arthur Felix, 1892.

THE first of these two monographs forms Parts 9 and 10 of the Thier­lIledizinisdze Vortrage being published under the editorship of Dr Schneide­muhl, while the second forms Part I I of the same series.

Dr Schneidemiihl's article on " Meat Inspection," in point of interest and importance, is not second to any of its predecessors of the same series. As the author remarks in his preface, the importance of a properly regulated meat inspection is at the present day generally recognised, but every day experience teaches that opinion is still much divided regarding the best method of effecting this. Hitherto, when either layman, veterinary surgeon, or medical man who might feel interested in the subject desired to put himself in possession of information bearing on such matters as the erection of a public slaughter-house, or the institution of a system of meat inspection, he encountered great difficulty; for while much valuable material relating to these points is scattered up and down the pages of medical and veterinary journals, there was not in existence, prior to the appearance of the monograph now under review, any publication professing to deal exhaustively with the whole subject. Dr Schneidemuhl has removed this difficulty, so far at least as German readers are concerned. ·Within the compass of some eighty pages he treats of the history of meat inspection from the earliest times, the importance and necessity of public abattoirs, the erection and conduct of these, and the statutory regulation of the traffic in butcher meat. Needless to say, these matters are discussed mainly from a German point of view, but there is

CLINICAL ARTICLES.

scarcely a page that does not contain valuable information that is directly applicable to the regulation of meat inspection in any other country.

Dr Lubarsch's article is an attempt to summarise the present state of our knowledge regarding the nature of immunity, inherited and acquired. The evidence for and against the theories of Metschnikoff (phagocytosis), Buchner (bactericidal action of the blood serum), and others, is set forth and criticised at considerable length, and the conclusion arrived at is (I) that none of the suggested explanations can be fitted in with all the observed facts connected with acquired immunity, and (2) that no one of the numerous possible ways of explaining inherited immunity has been proved to play the principal rule.

eLI N I CAL ART I C L E S. --0--

INTERESTING CASES.

By THOMAS WALLEY, M.R.e. V.S., Principal of the Royal Veterinary ColIege, Edinburgh.

HEPATIC CIRRHOSIS IN CATTLE.

IN a paper read by me on "Disease of the Liver," at a meeting of the Border Counties' Veterinary Medical Association held at Carlisle in 1890, I drew attention to the comparative frequency of cirrhosis in bovine animals; and, in endeavouring to account for this, I stated that, "as a rule, interstitial inflammation of the liver is produced by the action of some irritant presistently applied, e.g. the absorption of irritant matter from, or the existence of some irritating agent in, the bile canals, etc."

Further, in speaking of prevention, I directed attention to the necessity which exists for endeavouring to seek out and do away with any possible source of irritation in pastures and in drinking water.

In the paper alluded to time did not permit of my entering into detail as to the nature of the probable sources of irritation; three series of cases, however, which have been recently brought to my notice have revived the matter in my mind, and it may be as well that the subject should be dealt with at greater length, more especialIy seeing that these later series of cases are, in their course and general characters, identical with other and similar series which have previously come under my observation; to one of these I will first direct attention.

In 1888 I was requested by Mr Gilchrist, of Wishaw, to assist him in an investigation into the cause of death of a number of Ayrshire cattle-cows and young stock. Deaths had been taking place at varying intervals for sometime, and these were attributed to tuberculosis, but on inquiry it was found that the mortality had had its origin within a few months of a period at which the main water supply of the farm had been appropriated by two neighbouring burghs for domestic purposes.

The symptoms noted in the affected animals were of a somewhat negative character, the most prominent being gradual emaciation,