94 INJURIES AND DISEASES OF THE SKULL, &.c. 



or wound, the adjacent portions of the skin were carefully drawn together, and secured 

 by a silver wire, which closed the wound, and confined the detached portion of bone 

 in its proper place. A mash diet was ordered. 



" On the following day there was considerable inflammation. The eye was bathed 

 with warm water, and a dose of physic administered. On the third day the inflam- 

 mation and swelling- had still more increased. Blood was abstracted from the vein 

 at the angle of the eye. The swelling and inflammation now speedily abated ; and 

 on the fifteenth day the wound had quite healed." 



If a fracture of this kind is suspected, its existence or non-existence may be easily 

 determined by intrnilucing the thumb under, and keeping the fore-finger upon, the 

 edge of the orbit, 



EXOSTOSIS. 



Bony enlargements of the orbital arch sometimes arise from natural predisposition 

 or local injury. They should be attacked in the earliest stage, for they are too apt 

 rapidly to increase. Some preparation of iodine, as described in the account of medi- 

 cines, will be useful in this case. 



CARIES. 



Inflammation and enlargement of the injured bones, followed by abscess and the 

 production of certain bony growths, are of occasional occurrence. A skilful practi- 

 tioner can alone decide whether a cure should be attempted, or the sufferings of the 

 animal terminated by death. 



COMPRESSION OFTHE BRAIN. 



Hydatids are often found within the cranial cavity, and lying upon or imbedded in 

 the brain of oxen and sheep. Their existence is usually fatal to the animal. There 

 is no well-authenticated account of the existence of an hydatid in the cranial cavity 

 of the horse ; but cysts, containing a serous or viscid fluid, are occasionally observed. 

 The following is the history of one : — A horse exhibited symptoms of vertigo, or stag- 

 gers, which disappeared after copious bleeding and purgatives. About twelve months 

 afterwards the same complaint was evident. He carried his head low and inclined to 

 the right side. He staggered as he walked, and the motion of his limbs was marked 

 by a peculiar convulsive action, confined to the fore extremities. He moved by a suc- 

 cession of spasmodic boundings. He was completely deaf; and rapidly lost flesh, 

 though he ate and drank voraciously. He remained in this state, to the shame of the 

 owner and the practitioner, several months, and then he had a fresh attack of vertigo, 

 and died suddenly. On examination of the brain, its membranes were found to be 

 completely reddened; and. between the two lobes of the brain, was a round cyst as 

 large as a pullet's egg. The pressure of this was the manifest cause of the mischief. 



PRESSURE ON THE BRAIN. 



This may be produced by some fluid thrown out between the membranes, or occu- 

 pying and distending the ventricles of the brain. In the full-grown horse it rarely 

 occurs; but it is well known to breeders as an occasional disease of the foal, under 

 the name of " water in the head." The head is either much enlarged, or strangely 

 deformed, or both ; and the animal dies, either in the birth, or a few days after it. 



MEGRIMS. 



There is another kind of pressure on the brain, resulting from an unusual determi- 

 nation or flow of blood to it. This organ requires a large supj)ly of blood to enable 

 it to discharge its important functions. Nature, in the horse more than in many other 

 animals, has made some admirable provisions to cause this stream to flov/ into the 

 brain with little velocity, and thereby to lessen the risk of suddenly overloading it or 

 rup1\iring its vessels. The arteries pursue their course to the brain in a strangely 

 winding and circuitous manner; and they enter the skull throu'.rh bony apertures that 

 will admit of the enlargement of the vessels only to a very limited extent. From 

 various causes, however, of which the most common is violent exercise cm a hot day, 



