FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 245 



nervous and digestive apparatus, for a better understanding of what was to 

 follow.] 



I have been thus particular in the anatomy of these parts as they are the 

 ones most affected, or are treated by those who seek to cure this malady. 



It has long been a wonder how it could be that this disease was so severe, 

 and why such unusual symptoms showed themselves. Some have accounted 

 for it on the ground that there was congestion of the brain. Otiicrs that the 

 fever, as they call it, has affected the senses and produced coma or delirium. 

 This could hardly be the case, as recovery is almost as sudden as the attack, 

 and again an examination shows that there is little beside the profound shock 

 that the nervous svstem has received from the blocking of tlie organs of 

 digestion. 



We can scarcely conceive how such trouble can ensue, and why we have such 

 serious consequences. A post-mortem examination shows that tlie rumen or 

 paunch may be normal, or with a slight accumulation of gases ; the reticulum 

 (second stomach) will be in a normal condition ; the omasum (third stomacli) 

 is found in a congested state, the many leaves or folds being filled in or im- 

 pacted with food in a baked condition. In one case have I seen it so hard that 

 a knife could scarcely sever it. The abomasum (fourth stomach), or true stom- 

 ach, would be in a normal condition, but look as if there had been a sudden 

 suspension of work. 1'he organs of generation appear natural, or perhaps 

 slightly inflamed and congested. 



Nearly the whole trouble seems to arise from the stomacli, and the pain and 

 suffering appear to be so intense that the large nerve reaching this system is 

 completely paralyzed, and those that reach the rear half of the animal. This 

 gives a shock so great in some instances that all the nerves seem paralyzed, so 

 that the animal cannot swallow and can only breathe with the greatest diffi- 

 culty. 



Many of you know what the result of a stomachic trouble is, especially that 

 which is denominated as sick headache. The stomacli is generally considered 

 the seat of the trouble, but the brain, and indeed nearly every part of the sys- 

 tem, sympathizes more or less. People have come to consider one afflicted in 

 this way as a great sufferer ; and indeed he is. Tlie effect of sea-sickness on 

 the brain, nervous system, and in fact the whole individual, is not very dissim- 

 ilar. If, as has been said, our system when in health is like a harp of a thousand 

 strings and all in perfect harmony, when in sea-sickness it is like music with a 

 thousand discords ; and any one who has experienced it in its fullest extent will 

 have a very lucid remembrance of tiie little care he iiad for himself as to 

 whether the boat sank or went on. 



Causes. 



Most of us are aware that wherever in the human system there is work per- 

 formed, there is a corresponding determination or rusli of blood to that part; 

 there is also a large amount of nerve-force expended at that point, and there 

 must be less to be expended at another. Persons riding in tlie cold, whip or 

 rub the hands or stamp the feet to cause this increased flow of blood to those 

 parts and produce the desired warmth. Persons, too, who wish to undergo 

 severe trials of muscular exertion take only a limited supply of the light and 

 easily-digested foods during such trials, for the reason that the nerve-force is 

 nearly all utilized in the severe strain on the muscular system, and there is a 

 smaller quantity left to aid digestion. ''Too tired to eat"' is a common expres- 



