206 BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 



the latter should receive such treatment as its character demands. In 

 cramp of the leg compulsory movement usually cau :e3 relaxation very 

 quickly; therefore the animal should be led out of the stable and be 

 forced to run or trot. Sudden nervous excitement, caused by a crack 

 of the whip or smart blow, will often bring about immediate relief. 

 Should this fail, the anodyne liniment may be used along the inside 

 of the thigh, and chloroform, ether, or laudanum given internally. An 

 ounce of the chloral hydrate will certainly relieve the spasm when 

 given internally, but the cramp may return soon after the effect has 

 passed off, which in manj' cases it does very quickl3\ 



Conmdsions. — Althougli there is no disease of the nervous system 

 which can be properly termed convulsive, or justify the use of the 

 word convulsion to indicate any particular disease, yet it is often 

 such a prominent sj'mptom that a few words ma}' not be out of place. 

 General, irregular muscular contractions of various parts of the body, 

 with unconsciousness, characterize what we regard as convulsions, 

 and like ordinarj- spasms are dependent upon some disease or irrita- 

 tion of the nervous structures, chiefly of the brain. No treatment is 

 required; in fact, a general convulsion must necessarily be self -limited 

 in its duration. Suspending, as it does, respiratory movements, 

 checking the oxygenation and dccarbonization of the blood, the rapid 

 accumulation of carbonic-acid gas in the blood and the exclusion of 

 oxj^gen quickly puts the blood in a condition to produce the most 

 reliable and speedy sedative effect upon the nerve excitability that 

 could be found, and consequently furnishes its own remedy, so far as 

 the continuance of the convulsive paroxysm is concerned. Whatever 

 treatment is instituted must be directed toward a removal of the cause 

 of the convulsive paroxysm. 



CHOREA, OR ST. VITUS DANCK. 



Chorea is characterized by involuntaiy contractions of voluntary 

 muscles. This disease is an obscure disorder, which may be due to 

 pressure upon a nerve, cerebral, or spinal sclerosis, small aneurisms 

 in the brain, etc. Choreic symptoms have been produced by injecting 

 granules of starch into the arteries entering the brain. Epilepsy and 

 other foi-ms of convulsions simulate chorea in appeaiimce. 



SfringhaJt is b}' some termed chorea. This is manifested by a sud- 

 den jerking up of one or both hind legs when the animal is walking. 

 This S3'mptom ma}' be very slight in some horses, but has a tendency 

 to increase with the age of the animal. In some the catching up of 

 the affected leg is very violent, and when it is lowered to the ground 

 the motion is equally sudden and forcible, striking the foot to the 

 ground like a pile driver. Very rarely chorea may be found to affect 

 one of the fore legs, or the muscles of one side of the neck or the 

 upper part of the neck. Involuntar}'^ jerking of the muscles of the 



