APOPLEXY. 97 



come weak by the repetition of the abuses just described. It has not power to aigest 

 and expel the food, and thus becomes a source of general, and particularly of cere- 

 bral, disturbance. 



Horses at grass are occasionally attacked by this disease; but they are generally 

 poor, hard-worked, half-starved animals, turned on richer pasture than their impaired 

 digestive organs are equal to. Perhaps the weather is hot, and the sympathy of the 

 brain with the undue labour of the stomach is more easily excited, and a determina- 

 tion of blood to the brain more readily eftected. 



Mr. Percivall gives a very satisfactory illustration of the production of staggers in 

 this way. He says that " when his father first entered the service of the Ordnance, 

 it was the custom to turn horses which had become low in condition, but were still 

 well upon their legs, into the marshes, in order to recruit their strength. During the 

 months of July, August, and .September, nothing was more common than an attack 

 of staggers among these horses, and which was naturally attributed to the luxuriant 

 pasture they were turned into, combined witli the dependent posture of the head, and 

 the sultry heat to which they were exposed." 



Occasionally it will be necessary for the owner or the veterinary attendant to insti- 

 tute very careful inquiry, or he will not detect the real causes of the disease. Does 

 It arise from improper management, to which the horse has been in a manner habitu- 

 ated 1 Had he been subjected to long labour and fasting, and had then the opportu- 

 nity of gorging to excess ? Did it proceed from accidental repletion — from the ani- 

 mal having got loose in the night, and found out the corn or the chaff bin, and filled 

 himself almost to bursting"? There is nothing in the appearance of the animal which 

 will lead to a discovery of the cause — no yellowness nor twilchings of the skin, no 

 local swellings, as some have described ; but the practitioner or the owner must o-et 

 at the truth of the matter as well as he can, and then proceed accordino-ly. 



As to the TREATMENT of staggcrs, whatever be the cause of the dis'ease, bleeding 

 is the first measure indicated — tlie overloaded vessels of the brain must be relieved. 

 The jugular vein should be immediately opened. It is easily got at — it is large — the 

 blood may be drawn from it in a full stream, and, being also the vessel throup-h which 

 the blood is returned from the head, the greater part of the quantity obtained will bo 

 taken immediately from the overloaded organ, and therefore will be most likely to 

 produce the desired effect. No definite quantity of blood should be ordered to be 

 abstracted. The effect produced must be the guide, and the bleeding must be con- 

 tinued until the horse falters, or begins to blow — or, perhaps, with more assured suc- 

 cess, until he falls. Some persons select the temporal artery. This is very unsci- 

 entific practice. It is difficult, or impossible, to obtain from this vessel a stream that 

 promises any decisive success. It is likewise difficult to stop the bleedino- from this 



artery ; and, after all, the blood is not drawn from the actual seat of the disease 



the brain. 



The second step is to ascertain what is the cause of the apoplexy. Has the animal 

 got at the corn or the chaff bin ] Had he been over-fed on the evening before, and is 

 his stomach probably distended to the utmost by what he has eaten? 'in such a case, 

 of what avail can physic be, introduced into a stomach already crammed with indi- 

 gestive food ? Or what effect can twelve or twenty drachms of aloes produce, a small 

 portion only of which can penetrate into the stomach ] Recourse must be had to the 

 STOMACH-PUMP, one of the most valuable discoveries of modem times, and affording 

 the means of combating several diseases that had previously set all medical skill at 

 defiance. Warm water must be injected. The horse is now incapable of offering 

 much resistance, and tlie injection may be continued not only until the contents of 

 the stomach are so far diluted that a portion of them can escape through the lower 

 orifice of that viscus, but until the obstruction to vomiting offered by the contracted 

 entrance of the stomach is overcome, and a portion of the food is returned through 

 the nostrils or mouth. 



This being effected, or it liaving been ascertained that there was no extreme disten- 

 sion of the stomach, recourse should be had to aloes, and from eight to twelve dracnms 

 of it may be administered. It will be proper to add some stimulating medicine to the 

 aloes, with a view of restoring the tone of the stomach, and inducing it to contract on 

 Its contents. Gentian and ginger are most likely to effect this purpose. 



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