"Mr. Cartwright, in the May number of the Veterinarian of the present year, states that, 'Although I have seen at least a hundred cases, chiefly in this neighborhood, [Whitchurch,] during the last twenty-five years, yet I am almost ashamed to confess that I cannot call to recollection that I ever cured a single case, [neither will you ever cure one as long as the lancet and poison are coöperative,] nor have I ever heard of a case ever being cured by any of the quacks in the neighborhood.' [Of course not, for the quacks follow in the footsteps of their prototypes, the _regular_ veterinary surgeons.] "Fourthly. _What is the best method to pursue with cattle, in order, if possible, to_ PREVENT _the disease?_ This is a question which I hope to see amply discussed by veterinarians. I have but little to offer respecting it myself; but I labor under a kind of feeling that something valuable may not only be said, but done, by way of prevention. With reference to preventing the disease, Mr. Barlow, in his Essay, says, 'There is a pretty certain preventive in milking the cow some time before calving in full _blood-letting_ before or immediately after; in purgatives, very limited diet, and other depletive measures; each and all tending to illustrate the necessity of a vascular state of the system for its development!'" Mr. Haycock continues: "So far as my own experience is concerned, it is at variance with almost every one of my observations. In the table which I have given respecting question 2, the reader will recollect that I stated that puerperal fever supervened in five cows immediately after parturition. Now, it is worthy of remark, of these five cases, that every animal had been milked many hours previous to calving. The full udder, under such circumstances, is a powerful excitant to the uterus: this is a well-known fact, and the consequence is, that if this natural excitant be withdrawn, the action of the process at once becomes diminished. I have known many cases, in addition to those already given, where the parturient process was prolonged for hours in consequence of the animal's being milked, in whom fever supervened almost immediately afterwards. The prolonged process, I think, greatly weakens the animal, and, as a natural result, the vital energies become less capable of maintaining their normal integrity. With reference, again, to bleeding and purging as preventives, I have nothing to offer in favor of either mode. I do not believe that they are preventives. [Good, again, doctor: you are one of the right stripe. It would give us pleasure to see a few such as you on this side of the water.] First of all, we require to know what percentage of calving cows are liable to be affected with puerperal fever; then, whether that percentage becomes reduced in number in consequence of such preventive measures being brought into force: these are the only modes whereby the matter can be proved; and, so far as I