250 AMERICAN FARMER'S HORSE BOOK 



" The horse is a little off his feed ; he is more tl^n usually 

 dull ; there is a degree of stupidity about him, and, generally, 

 a somewhat staggering gait. This goes off when he has 

 been out a little while, but it soon returns under a more de- 

 cided character, until, at length, it forces itself on the atten- 

 tion of- the most careless. 



" The actual illness is perhaps first recognized by the horse 

 standing with his head depressed. It bears upon, or is forced 

 against the manger or the wall, and a considerable part of 

 the weight of the animal is evidently supported by this pres- 

 sure of the head. As he thus stands, he is balancing him- 

 self from one side to the other, as if he were ready to fall ; 

 and it is often dangerous to stand near to him, or to move 

 him, for he falls without warning. If he can get his muzzle 

 into a corner, he will sometimes continue there motionless 

 for a considerable time, and then drop as if he were shot ; 

 but, the next moment, he is up again, with his feet almost 

 in the rack. He sleeps, or seems to do so, as he stands, or 

 at least he is nearly or quite unconscious of surrounding ob- ^ 

 jects. When he is rohsed, he looks vacantly around him. 

 Perhaps he will take a lock of hay, if it is offered to him ; 

 but, ere it is half masticated, the eye closes, and he sleeps 

 again, with the food in his mouth. Soon afterward he is, 

 perhaps, roused once more. The eye opens, but it has an 

 unmeaning glare. The hand is moved before him, but the 

 eye closes not; he is spoken to, but he hears not. The list 

 act of voluntary motion which he will attempt is usually to 

 drink ; but he has little power over the muscles of deglutition, 

 and the fluid returns through the nostrils. 



" He now begins to foam at the mouth. His breathing is 

 laborious and loud. It is performed by the influence of the 

 organic nerves, and those of animal life no longer lend their 

 aid. The pulse is slow and oppressed; the jugular vein is 

 distended almost to bursting; the muzzle is cold, and the 

 discharge of the faeces involuntary; he grinds his teeth; 

 twitchings steal over his face and attack his limbs — they 

 sometimes proceed to convulsions, and dreadful ones, too, in 



