DISEASES OF THE MUSCLES AND TENDONS. 201 



other digestive organs are but little affected. In all proba- 

 bility many horses die from tetanus that might be saved if, 

 in connection with the treatment pursued, some nutritious 

 food corild be introduced into his stomach. A horse with 

 lock-jaw will manifest the strongest symptoms of hunger, 

 and should be fed every two or three hours at least. This 

 may be done by placing before him a tub or bucket of thick 

 meal gruel. He will at once try to suck some of it into his 

 mouth, and will actually swallow a little of it, from time to 

 time. There will be no harm in keeping it before him con- 

 stantly, if he seems to desire it. 



TREATMENT. 



Bleed freely from the neck vein ; it is" the only hope in a 

 case of tetanus. The blood-vessels and nerves are distrib- 

 uted throughout the body side by side, and closely sympa- 

 thize with each other. The blood must be depleted, and to 

 do this is to relax the nerves, and also the muscles through 

 which the nerves ramify. 



Let the blood continue to flow as long as the horse can 

 bear it. It is useless to hope for a cure if this essential part 

 of the treatment is not properly attended to. In most cases, 

 it will be best to open the vein, and let the blood run until 

 the pulse grows perceptibly fainter ; then to remove the finger 

 or the cord from the neck for fifteen or twenty minutes, or 

 until the pulse rises and the vein becomes full. Now let 

 the blood flow a second time as long as at first. This may 

 be repeated three or four times, when the jaws and the 

 muscles generally will begin to relax. At first the blood is 

 thick, and its feeble stream is drawn chiefly from the im- 

 mediate region of the brain,, while the vessels of the extremi- 

 ties react but slowly. They are allowed time for this, how- 

 ever, by these temporary suspensions of the arterial flow ; and 

 there is another great a-dvantage in following this course, 

 from the fact that it prevents drawing away so much blood 

 from the vein as to overpower the vital energies of the horse. 

 If the blood is allowed to run without any intermission until 



