5.'>8 SPORADIC DISEASES. 



the box door, and looking pretty cheerful, had drank some 

 gruel and eaten a little hay, and I was in hopes it might 

 rally; but shortly afterwards it fell completely paralyzed, 

 lost both motor power and sensitiveness ; there was no strugg- 

 ling now, it lay passively on its side, looked quite conscious, 

 and died without a struggle. A 2'^ost mortem examination 

 revealed the spinal cord and meninges highly congested, and 

 the subarachnoid space filled with serosity. The dorsal, lumbar, 

 gluteal, and the muscles of the thighs, as well as the serrati 

 magni, levatores humeri, triceps extensor brachii, and the other 

 muscles which had been violently cramped during life, presented 

 a dark, congested appearance. 



The spinal congestion was most marked in the dorso-lumbar 

 region, and both roots of the spinal nerves, and the nerves them- 

 selves for some distance, presented the same appearance. The 

 arachnoid, pia mater, and dura mater were intensely red ; the 

 substance of the cord looked reddish, and on cutting through it 

 black blood exuded abundantly from its centre. 



The other form of spinitis is that manifested by sudden loss of 

 power, without previous irregular muscular action, and may be 

 appropriately termed inflammatory paralysis ; for, in addition to 

 the j)aralysis, there is fever, constipation of the bowels, diminished 

 secretion of urine, and other signs of constitutional disturbance. 

 This form is apt to be confounded witli fracture of the vertebrce, 

 more especially of the lumbar vertebrte, in which . generally the 

 paralysis is complete immediately after an accident. Whereas, 

 when one of the dorsal vertebra is fractured, displacement may 

 not immediately occur, displacement and paralysis occurring 

 perhaps in a few hours after the accident. 



The history of the case will have to be taken into consi- 

 deration in arriving at a diagnosis. Broken back generally 

 succeeds a traceable accident, acute spinitis without any appre- 

 ciable cause. 



The first form of spinal inflammation is apt to be confounded 

 with azoturia. The dark colour of the urine which characterises 

 that disease is absent in spinal inflammation, and the spasm, 

 which in azoturia is mostly confined to the gluteals, affects 

 various muscles, and is of a more clonic or alternating kind. 



