rilREXlTlS. ]73 



period, and then he begins to struggle again ; but lie is no%v probaV.ly 

 unable to rise. He pants — he foams — at length, completely exhausted, he 

 dies. 



There are but two diseases with which phrenitis can be confounded, 

 and they are colic and rabies. In colic, the horse rises and falls ; he 

 rolls about and kicks at his belly ; but his struggles are tame compared 

 A^dth those of the phrenitic horse. There is no involuntary spasm of any 

 of the limbs ; the animal is perfectly sensible, and, looking piteously at his 

 flanks, seems designedly to indicate the seat of pain. The beautiful yet 

 fearfully excited countenance of the one, and the piteous, anxious gaze of 

 the other, are sufficiently distinct ; and if it can be got at, the rapid bound- 

 ing pulse of the one, and that of the other scarcely losing its natural 

 character in the early stage, cannot be mistaken. 



In rabies, when it does assume the ferocious form, there is even more 

 ■\nolence than in jjhrenitis ; but there is method, and treachery too, in that 

 violence. There is the desire of mischief for its own sake, and there is 

 frequently the artful stratagem to allure the victim within the reach of de- 

 struction. There is not a motion of which the rabid horse is not conscious, 

 nor a person whom he does not recognise ; but he labours under one all- 

 absorbing feeling — the intense longing to devastate and destroy. 



The post-mortem appearances are altogether uncertain. There is usually 

 very great injection and inflammation of the membranes of the brain, and 

 even of portions of the substance of the brain ; but in other cases there is 

 scarcely any trace of inflammation, or even of increased vascularity. 



The treatment of phrenitis has been very shortly hinted at. The first — 

 the indispensable proceeding — is to bleed ; to abstract as much blood as 

 can be obtained ; to let the animal bleed on after he is down ; and indeed 

 not to pin up the vein of the phrenitic horse at all. The patient will never 

 be lost by this decisive proceeding, but the inflammation may be subdued, 

 and here the first blow is the whole of the battle. The physic should be 

 that which is most readily given and will most speedily act. The farina 

 of the croton will, perhaps, have the preference. Half a di-achm or two 

 scruples of it may be fearlessly administered. The intense inflammation of 

 the brain gives sufficient assurance that no dangerous inflammation wiU 

 be easily set up in the intestinal canal. This medicine can be formed into 

 a very little ball or drink, and in some momentary remission of the symp- 

 toms, administered by means of the probang, or a stick, or the horn. 

 Sometimes the phrenitic horse, when he will take nothing else, and is 

 unconscious of everything else, will di-ink with a\4dity gruel or water. 

 Repeated doses of purgative medicine may perhaps be thus given, and 

 they must be continued until the bowels respond. The bleedino" and 

 physic liavhig been energetically had recourse to, these must be followed 

 lip by the uninterrupted application of cold in any and every foi-m ; — ice 

 if it can be procured, the coldest Avater dashed freely against the head, or 

 poured on it from a considerable height, and for a considerable length of 

 time, is the only adjunct that ofiers a chance of relief; — continue it unre- 

 mittingly for hours ;— blisters are not only useless but absolutelj^ injurious, 

 and in this active, rapid, and fiital disease should never be had recourse to. 

 The bowels having been well opened, emetic tartar, with calomel or nitre 

 should be given. The animal should be kept as quiet as possible in a 

 somewhat dark but well-ventilated stable. 



While the disease continues, no attempt must be made to induce the 

 horse to feed ; and even when appetite returns with the abatement of 

 inflammation, great caution must be exercised both with regard to the 

 quantity and quality of the food. 



