74 PHRENTTIS. 



PHRENITIS. 



Primary inflammation of the brain or its membranes, or both, 

 sometimes occurs, and of tlie membranes oftenest when both are 

 not involved. 



The early symptoms are almost precisely those of apoplexy,| 

 except that the phrenetic horse is not quite so lethargic. He 

 sees a little better, will shrink more from the whip, and the dis-'i 

 ease runs its course more rapidly. In apoplexy, from distention 

 of the stomach, twenty-four or thirty-six hours will elapse before 

 cure, rupture of the stomach, or the destruction of the horse. If 

 it proceeds merely from an oppression of the digestive organs 

 and the sympathy which subsists between the stomach and brain, 

 it may. run on for two or three days. But the apoplexy of the 

 phrenetic horse will often run its course in a few hours. 



In a case of evident phrenitis, blood-letting and physic must be 

 early carried to their full extent. The horse will often be 

 materially relieved, and, perhaps, cured by this decisive treat- 

 ment ; but, if the golden hour has been suffered to pass, or if 

 remedial measures have become inefiectual, the scene all at once 

 changes, and the most violent reaction succeeds. The eye 

 brightens — strangely so ; the membrane of the eye becomes 

 suddenly reddened, and forms a frightful contrast with the 

 transparency of the cornea ; the pupil is dilated to the utmost ; 

 the nostril, before scarcely moving, expands and quivers, and 

 labors ; the respiration becomes short and quick ; the ears are 



force the head forwards, the pulse is slow and oppressed, and the abdomen 

 generally distended, the bowels costive, and the dung usually slimy. This 

 distention of the stomach is the principal distinction between this affection 

 of the stomach, and the sleepy staggers, as it is called, which is primarily 

 a disease of the brain. In this latter complaint, however, there is less dis- 

 position to thrust forward the head, and the a!)domen is by no means dis- 

 tended. 



Sleepy staggers is sometimes suddenly succeeded by mad staggers or 

 inflammation of the brain ; the symptoms of which are sufficiently detailed 

 in the text. It is important to distinguish between these different diseases, 

 as the treatment requires considerable modification. 



Mad staggers, the symptoms f)f which are so extremely violent, must be 

 met by the active bleedings and purgatives recommended in the text. 



I would not, however, recommend the same active blood-letting for the 

 stomach or the sleepy staggers, as in these diseases there ap]iears a want 

 of that nervous energy and excitation which abounds so nmch in tlie mad 

 staggers, and which blood-letting is calculated to depress. In the stomach 

 disease, oily purgatives and clysters, assisted by plenty of diluents, are 

 called for; and, in those cases where lethargy anddebihty are present, 

 tonics and mild stimulants are to be recommended. 



I have never observed any connection to exist between staggers and 

 amaurosis ; the latter, it is true, may be caused by indigestion, but I have 

 never met with an instance of its being produced by staggers. 



