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HORSE— DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



and stiff, and the countenance as if 

 horror-struck. At first the extremities 

 are seldom involved, but as the disease 

 progresses their control is first lost, and 

 then they become rigid, like the neck and 

 head. The patient is scarcely able to 

 stand, and plants his feet widely apart to 

 prop himself up, while at last the tail also 

 becomes a fixture. The pulse varies a 

 good deal, in some cases being quick, 

 small, and hard, and in others slow and 

 labored. The bowels are generally cos- 

 tive, and the urine scanty; but this last 

 symptom is not so well marked as the 

 state of the bowels alluded to. The 

 treatment should be of a twofold nature, 

 partly palliative and partly curative. 

 Since the introduction into use of chloro- 

 form we have possessed a drug which in- 

 variably enables us to remove the spasm 

 for a time, and if it does nothing more, 

 it gives room for other remedies to act 

 .and relieve the patient from the horrible 

 tortures which are occasioned by the 

 : spasm, while it also allows the muscular 

 .and nervous powers to be recruited. 

 When, therefore, a case of tetanus occurs 

 in a horse of any value, an apparatus for 

 applying chloroform (described under the 

 chapter on Operations) should be pro- 

 cured, and the animal at once placed un- 

 der its influence. This done, the whole 

 length of the spine should be blistered 

 with tincture of cantharides, and an 

 active aperient should be given, consist- 

 ing, if practicable, of a pint of castor oil, 

 and six or eight drops of croton oil. 

 This may be pumped down the throat by 

 the usual syringe and tube, if the front 

 teeth can be separated; but if this can- 

 not be done, some solid cathartic must be 

 selected, though there is often as much 

 difficulty in forcing a ball down as in 

 passing an elastic tube. Failing in either 

 of these, two drachms of calomel, and 

 the same quantity of tartar emetic should 

 be slightly damped, and placed in the 

 mouth as far back as possible, in the 

 hope that they may be gradually swal- 

 lowed; the bowels should be raked, and 

 copious injections of castor oil and tur- 

 pentine, mixed with several quarts of 

 gruel, should be thrown up. If these 

 remedies fail, nature must be left to her 

 own resources, and they will sometimes 

 ,be found equal to the task, for many 

 cases have recovered after having been 



given up as beyond the reach of our art. 

 Opium, henbane, digitalis, hellebore, and 

 a host of other drugs have been tried; 

 sometimes with, and sometimes without 

 success, and perhaps it is worth while, 

 after the bowels have been well relieved, 

 to give a full dose of one or other of 

 these powerful remedies, such as two 

 drachms of solid opium; but we confess 

 that we think little reliance is to be 

 placed on them, and we prefer the adop- 

 tion of chloroform every six hours, con- 

 tinued for about two or three hours and 

 gradually withdrawn, leaving the cure to 

 the action of the blister and purgatives. 



HORSE, Apoplexy and Paralysis. — 

 Usually these are only different degrees 

 of the same disease, but there are excep- 

 tions, in which the latter is produced by 

 some chronic affection of the spinal cord 

 or brain. As a rule, both depend upon 

 pressure made on the brain by an over- 

 loaded state of the vessels, commonly 

 known as congestion, or by extravasation 

 of blood, in which it escapes from them. 



Paralysis is marked by a loss of power 

 over the muscles of a part, and may be 

 confined to one limb or organ or extend 

 to more. It is a symptom of pressure 

 on, or disorganization of, some part of 

 the nervous system, and must be consid- 

 ered as such, and not as a disease of the 

 affected muscles. Thus it requires a 

 knowledge of anatomy to trace it to its 

 seat, without which its treatment would 

 be conducted on false principles. By far 

 the most common form of paralysis is 

 hemiplegia, or paralysis of the muscles ol 

 the hinder extremities and loins, generally 

 arising from an injury to the spine. Some- 

 times the body of a vertebra is broken, 

 and the parts being separated, their edges 

 press upon the spinal cord and produce 

 the disease. At others the vessels within 

 the canal have received a shock, and the 

 serous membrane secretes (or allows to 

 ooze out) a bloody fluid which presses 

 upon the cord, and produces the same 

 effect, but in a more gradual manner. In 

 India, a disease known there as Kumree 

 causes paralysis of the hinder extremities, 

 and is due to inflammation of the mem- 

 branes, which secrete a bloody serum. 

 In this country, however, paraplegia is 

 very rare, excepting as the result of acci- 

 dent. 



When a horse falls in running, and 



