PECULIAK TO HORSES. 55 



drawing the trocar — cutting instrument — about two-thirds of a 

 tunibler full of water — serum — ran through the canula. Shortly 

 after this the wound in the integuments was closed ; not completely, 

 however, for small quantities of serum still escaped, and were 

 Buffered to do so. 



Up to the time of performing this operation — that is, since my 

 first visit — the patient was sightless, and insensible in every part of 

 his body to the prick of a pin, but so soon as the fluid was removed 

 from the interior of the brain, his sight and sensibility returned, and 

 continued for forty-eight hours, when the horse gradually relapsed 

 into a comatose or insensible condition ; and now, at the end of five 

 days after the operation on his brain, it was decided that he could 

 not recover, hence the owner ordered him to be killed. 



Remarks on the above Case. — This horse was not a very good 

 subject on which to test the merits of this formidable operation ; he 

 had been over-fed, and was rather plethoric ; then again, the weather 

 was excessively sultry, and he had very bad quarters, and very little 

 attention. I have, however, some hopes that this operation may 

 ultimately prove successful, when the right subject is selected, and 

 when the patient has proper care and attention ; and should it prove 

 successful, some valuable lives might be saved. 



If this operation shall prove successful on the horse, why may it 

 not, when performed on man, for hydrocephalus ? 



SPLENIC APOPLEXY. 



During my residence in Ohio I had occasion to visit a number of 

 animals, the subjects of Splenic Apoplexy. I found that most of 

 them had been over-fed, and were in a state of plethora, hence to 

 prevent the malady, the farmer must dip a lighter hand into the meal 

 bag. 



My impression is that apoplexy, wherever it locates, in the bodies 

 of either horses or cattle, is very apt to prove fatal ; there may be 

 occasional recoveries, but these are exceptions, and not the rule. 



The authorities contend that in all cases of animals stricken with 

 this malady, the premonitory symptoms are of short duration ; they 

 may be observed at night to appearance in the enjoyment of full 

 health, on the morrow they may be dead. 



Symptoms of Splenic Apoplexy. — When an opportunity is af- 

 forded of observing the development of the earliest symptoms, 

 characteristic of this malady, they will be found to be somewhat of 

 the following nature : appetite somewhat impaired ; countenance of 

 an anxious appearance ; visible mucous surfaces, a mixture of dull 

 red and yellow ; pulse somewhat full, and may range as high as sev- 

 enty; respirations quickened; tenderness along the course of the 

 spine. The patient will occasionally stumble and fall ; he grinds his 

 teeth, and an augmented secretion of saliva is seen to dribble from 

 the mouth. 



The bowels are usually active, and the excrement is sufficiently 

 soft, yet of a dark color ; when too soft, the patient is afflicted with 



