46 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 



VERTIGO. — (Megrims.) 



Horses are, now and then, attacked with a sort of giddiness, 

 which is apt to come on while going fast ; the animal all at once 

 commences shaking his head, staggers, reels, and stops -short ; if 

 permitted to rest a while, he recovers, and travels on as if nothing 

 had happened. 



The vertiginous symptoms are very apt to return ; therefore a 

 horse having once had an attack must be managed with caution ; 

 he is certainly unsafe for either saddle or chaise ; but with due 

 care in regard to stable management and work, he might be used 

 w r ith some degree of safety in a four-wheeled vehicle, for, if then 

 he should fall, the occupants might escape without injury, other- 

 wise they would not. The disease is generally supposed to be 

 connected with some pathological state of the brain or nervous 

 system, and must therefore be considered incurable so long as 

 that organ or system remains in a pathological condition. 



The treatment of vertigo, or megrims, as it is sometimes called, 

 does not reflect much credit on us, neither is it at all times satis- 

 factory to our employers ; for so soon as the horse returns to work, 

 the same causes which produced a previous attack are again in 

 operation, and soon produce a subsequent one. Our first object 

 is, to act on the digestive surface by means of a full dose of physic. 

 Some mustard, moistened with vinegar, should be rubbed along 

 the neck, on each side, near the head. Some practitioners recom- 

 mend setons through the temples, or along the nape of the neck ; 

 others blister the head. Bloodletting is generally resorted to for 

 most diseases of the brain ; with what success the reader may learn 

 by consulting the text books. The practice, however, lacks the 

 sanction of the new school and our own humble advocacy. We 

 have seen some benefit derived from the daily use of an anti- 

 spasmodic draught, composed of 



• Powdered gum assafoetida, 1 drachm, 



Sweet spirits of nitre, 2 drachms, 



Thin gruel, 1 pint. 



To be given so soon as the bowels have responded to the purge, 

 and to be continued until the patient appears better. 



This treatment we have found efficient to prevent a reattack 

 for a longer or shorter time, depending, however, on the man- 



