CANCER OF THE SPINE. 507 



" When I saw my patient, I found that the pulse numbered 68, and 

 was weak. The submaxillary artery appeared full and soft, and the 

 action of the heart feeble. The breathing 59 in the minute, and rather 

 laboured. The conjunctival membranes were very much injected and 

 of a yellowish colour. The mouth was hot and dry. The nostrils were 

 greatly dilated. The ears were cold, legs warm. The feeces were of a 

 healthy character. The respiratory murmur throughout the whole 

 length of the trachea was much louder than in health, and the left lung 

 gave evidence of partial congestion. The cough was thick and heavy, 

 and of a peculiar sound, but not frequent. The larynx and trachea 

 were very painful on pressure. A watery fluid flowed from the eyes, 

 but there was no discharge from the nostrils. The neck was very stiff, 

 so much so that the animal could neither eat nor drink from off the 

 ground, nor move the head in a lateral direction. The parotid glands 

 were much larger and harder than usual. The appetite, however, was 

 but little impaired. 



" From these symptoms, I considered it to be a case of ordinary in- 

 fluenza, or distemper, which disease was exceedingly prevalent in the 

 neighbourhood at the time. Acting upon this impression, I treated it 

 as such until the 24th, when my patient was so much better that pro- 

 fessional attendance was no longer necessary. The head could now be 

 moved with greater freedom in a lateral direction, and the mare was 

 enabled to eat and drink from the ground. The breathing had become 

 natural both in character and frequency. The pulse 38, and healthy 

 in tone ; the appetite good ; the animal lively, and capable of taking 

 half an hour's exercise daily. 



" On the 6th of October I received a message to say that the mare was 

 not so well On arriving at the place late in the day, I found her ap- 

 parently suffering but little pain, the intense agony which the owner 

 had observed in the morning having passed off. The other symptoms 

 they described as also existing were an enormously distended abdomen, 

 frequent groaning, rigid limbs, an occasional lying down but quickly 

 rising again, very heavy breathing, and an anxious expression of the eyes. 



" The pulse was 44 in number, and rather weak at the jaw ; the 

 sounds of the heart were so feeble that they were scarcely audible on 

 the left side ; the breathing was 66 in the minute, but not laboured ; 

 the motion of the abdominal muscles was indeed so slight that I was 

 unable to take the number of respirations at the flank ; the neck was 

 still a little stiff ; the nostrils dilated, and much anxiety of the counte- 



