PECULIAR TO nOKSES. 25 



preparation which was applied yesterday morning, then gave, by 



drench : 



Prickly Ash Bark 5 drachms. 



Golden Seal 5 



Iodide Potass 1 " 



July 28. Called to see my patient this morning, and found him 

 rapidly improving. His walk was much firmer and his general ap- 

 pearance livelier, I did not consider his legs needed any further 

 medical application, but I gave a drench composed of— 



Golden Seal 4 drachms. 



Iodide Potass 1 " 



July 29. I found such a decided improvement this morning that 

 I felt it necessary to suspend further medical treatment, and informed 

 the owner that by turning him out to grass he would ultimately 

 recover. 



Remarks. — Myalgia is a very prevalent disease among horses, yet 

 it is often confounded with plcurodyna, founder, rheumatism, &c. 

 In view of giving the reader some idea of the cause and nature of 

 Myalgia, I propose to make a few extracts from a lecture lately de- 

 liveretl by Thomas Inman, M.D., of the Royal Infirmary, Liverpool: 



" My attention has been drawn very forcibly, of late, to the sub- 

 ject of the muscles, and the frequency with which they are painfully 

 afiected in the human subject. It is clear that they are affected 

 much in the same way in the horse and other animals. 



" If any man undergoes an excessive amount of physical exertion, 

 and especially if he be unaccustomed to it, or if he has* been the 

 victim of cramp, we know that on the next day he complains of 

 stifi^ness and soreness in those parts of the body which have been 

 most exercised. Experience tells us that this stiffness lasts for about 

 four or five days, but that it goes off on the first day as the indi- 

 vidual is again warmed to his work, and comes on again as soon as 

 he is cool. 



*' There is every reason to believe that excessive or long protract- 

 ed exertion will produce a bad eflect upon a healthy and strong 

 muscle ; it is equally certain that a similar result will be produced 

 in a weakly and unhealthy muscle by a very slight exertion, because 

 that exertion, though seemingly small, is excessive. 



" If any man or horse die of tetanus, we may ascertain readily 

 the physical effects produced on their muscles, by excessive and 

 prolonged involuntary contraction. The muscles of a tetanic patient 

 are pale looking, fishy, bloodless, spotted, &c. 



" From the foregoing particulars it is evident that the muscles, in 

 their entirety, were frequently the seats of very severe suffering; 

 and experience showed that myalgio affections were far more com- 

 mon than had been supposed. But many patients had muscular 

 pains from doing the very same things that others had done without 

 experiencing anything disagreable, and many had myalgia from 

 continuing to perform actions which they had been accustomed to 

 do all their lives. This had to be accounted for. 



"A short consideration sufficed to state the matter thus: If an 

 individual, whose muscles are strong, experience stiffness, pain and 



