APOPLEXY 7 1 



d«^grree of stupidity about him, and, generally, a somewhat stag- 

 gering gait. This goes off when he has been out a little while, 

 but it soon returns under a more decided character, until, at 

 length, it forces itself on the attention of the most careless. 



The actual illness is perhaps first recognized by the horse 

 standing with his head depressed. It bears upon, or is forced 

 against the manger or the wall, and a considerable part of the 

 weight of the animal is evidently supported by this pressure of 

 the head. As he thus stands, he is balancing himself from one 

 side to the other as if he were ready to fall ; and it is often dan- 

 gerous to stand near to him, or to move him, for he falls without 

 warning. If he can get his muzzle into a corner, he will some- 

 times continue there motionless ibr a considerable time, and then 

 drop as if he were shot ; but, the next moment, he is up again, 

 with his feet almost in the rack. He sleeps or seems to do so as 

 he stands, or at least he is nearly or quite unconscious of sur- 

 roundmg objects. When he is roused, he looks vacantly around 

 him. Perhaps he will take a lock of hay if it is offered to him , 

 but ere it is half masticated, the eye closes, and he sleeps again 

 with the food in his mouth. Soon afterwards he is, perhaps, 

 roused once more. The eye opens, but it has an unmeaning 

 glare. The hand is moved before him, but the eye closes not , 

 he is spoken to, but he hears not. The last act of voluntary mo- 

 tion which he vidll attempt is usually to drink ; but he has little 

 power over the muscles of deglutition (swallowing), and the fluid 

 returns through the nostrils. 



He now begins to foam at the mouth. His breathing is labo- 

 rious and loud. It is performed by the influence of the organic 

 nerves, arid those of animal life no longer lend their aid. The 

 pulse is slow and oppressed — the jugular vein is distended almost 

 to bursting — the muzzle is cold, and the discharge of the faeces 

 involuntary. He grinds his teeth — twitchings steal over his 

 face and attack his hmbs — they sometimes proceed to convul- 

 sions, and dreadful ones, too, in which the horse beats himself 

 about in a terrible manner ; but there is rarely disposition to do 

 mischief. In the greater number of cases these convulsions last 

 not long. All the powers of life are oppressed, and death speed 

 ily closes the scene. 



Post-mortem examination usually shows the whole venous sys- 

 tem in a state of congestion, and the vessels of the brain, par- 

 ticularly, turgid with black blood. Occasionally, however, there 

 IS no inflammation of the brain or its membranes ; but either 

 the stomach contains a more than usual quantity of food, or the. 

 larirer intestines are loaded with foul matter. 



Apoplexy is a determination of blood to the head, and tho 

 3'iuse is the over-condition of the animal, and too great fulness 



