380 



NEW EMa.AND FARiMEK, 



June IS, 1830. 



KbcaTD ot ObcCuI EnotolclJij«-=-»ifarmcrB' Scvfcs. 



di9°e:ases of horses. 



TETAHU3, OR J.nCKED-JAW. 



,'CuiiUllUl'il.J 



If, from slrcngtli of roiistitulioii or iiicdicnl 

 treuliiieiil, he sliould ncuvor, the fir^t fivuralile 

 symptom is a slij;ht ainl nhurt rciiii oiuii of the 

 Hpastii ; the lime of t!ie r<;inis;9ioii grutiiiully ieii^j'tli- 

 eiiing, and llie juws n hiiie relaxing ; hut ihu pro- 1 

 gre«s of nure is exceedingly !>low, iind the horse i 

 is left very weak. i 



Tetanus is evidently an afleclioii of the nerves. 

 A small lihre of some nerve lins heen injured, and 

 the effect of that injury has fipreud to the origin of 

 the nerve ; the hrain has become atfecled, and j 

 universal diseased action speedily follows. Lock- [ 

 cd-jaw fjencrally arises from a wound, and often- 

 C8t a wound of a tendinous or ligamentous part ; 

 hut depending not either upon the extent of the I 

 wound, or the degree of inflammation which may I 

 he excited. The time of the Jittack is uncertain,] 

 and miiy he jiosipoued until the wound is nearly I 

 or f|uite healed. It occasionally follows nicking, ■ 

 doc^ting, cropping, whether well or ill performed — 

 w hether properly attended to afterwnrd.s, or ncg- ' 

 lected. It has heen traced to worms, and particu- : 

 larly to hots ; Imt we do not think that there is ' 

 any proof of this. Exposure to cold is a frequent 

 cause ; water dropping upon the back througli the 

 decayed roof of a stable ; or the storm pelting 

 upon the uncovered and shivering animal, while 

 the thoughtless owner has sheltered himself 



The rational method of cure would seem to he, 

 first to remove the local cause ; — hut this will sel- 

 dom avail much. The irritation is become general, 

 and the spasmodic action constitutional. The hab- 

 it is formed, and will conliiiuc. It is well, how- 

 ever, to endeavor to discover the local cause. If 

 it he a wound in the fool, let it ho touched with 

 the hot iron or the caustic, ami kept open with 

 digestive ointment. The new irritation thus pro- 

 duced, may lessen or remove the old one. If it 

 follows nicking, let the incision be made deeper, 

 and stimidated hy digestive ointment ; — ami if it 

 arise from docking, let the operation be re|ieated 

 higher. In treating the constitutional di-ease, ef- 

 forts must be made to tranquillise the system, and 

 the most powerful agent is bleeding. We have 

 known twenty |)ounds of blood taken at once and 

 with manifest advantage. There is not a more 

 powerful mcuMs of allaying general irritation. 

 Temporary relaxation of the spasm will at leant 

 follow, and that will give the opportunity to do 

 another thing in order to reduce anil quiet thoilis- 

 turbcil ?ystetM, and that is, to give physic. Here 

 again, tliat physic is best which is speediest in 

 operation, and will lie in the smallest compass. 

 The croton has no rival in this respect. The first 

 dose shoiJd be a half drac'hm, and the medicine 

 repeatuU every six hours, in doses of ten grains, 

 until it operates. The bowels, in all these ner- 

 vous affiTtionii, arc very tor(iid, and there is little 

 danger of inflammation from an over do.se of phy- 

 iiic. The operalidii of the physic may bo assisted 

 by frequent injcclioiiH, each containing n drachm 

 of aloHs di.s.solved in wnnn water — or, by means 

 of the pump, whole pailfuls of warm water, or 

 Tery thin gruel, may be thrown up. 



Tlicn, an it is a diseased anion oftho nerves 

 proceeding from tin- spinal marrnw, the whole of 

 the spine uhould he blistered — three or four inches 

 wide. The horse should be placed in a warm 



stable, yet with ))urc air, and iliould be clothed . around him with a kind of stupij astonishinent ; 

 with two or three additional rugs, or, what is . sliakes his ears ; urines; and cats or drinks as if 

 nmch better, sheep-skins wann from the animal, nothing had happened. 



with the raw side inward ; and eliangcd as soon as I The only hope of cure consists io discovering 

 they become dry or )iutrid. 'the cause of the fits; and an experienced prac- 



liaving bled largely, and physicked and blister- { titioncr tiiust be consulted, if the animal be valu- 

 ed, we seek for otlier means to lull the irritation, 1 able : generally speaking, however, the cause is 

 and we have one at haml, small in bulk and po- ' so diflicult to discover, and the habit of tits is so 

 tent in energy — opium. Give at once a quarter of . soon formed, and they will so frequently return, 

 an oiuice, ri;duceil to powder, and , made into a i even at a great distance of time, that he who val- 

 ilriuk with gruel, or in a small ball, (in its cruile | ucb his own safety, or the lives of his family, will 

 state it would be too long in dissidving in the | cease to use an epileptic horse, 

 stomach :) and give an aildilional drachm every | 

 six hours. If the jaw shoidd ho quite fixed, ad- 1 

 minister it in injections. The bowels must be | 



P.\LST. 



The stream of nervous influence is sometimes 

 Etojiped, and thence results Palst. The power 



attended to Uuring the exhibition ot the opium, : ' ' "^ ' , . ■ , ■ , i - •-. 



. J i„ • II 1 .1 .1 of the miisce IS unimpaired, but the nervous eoer- 



and aloes given in small doses, to keep them in a .... n , ■ , , „ 



I , ,„, ,^ 1 I r .• 1 I ■ l!y 's deficient. 1 alsy m the horse is usually con 



hix state. Camphor and assala-tiila may be given i "■' ■' j •• 



I ,1 I I . ,1 . .t 'fined to the hinder limbs. When purging liaK 



hy those who please ; — wc are not aware that they • ,, , , , , i o », . 



will do injurv, hut opium is the sheet anchor ^f.\"'<^»ioosuMcu\y stopped, he becomes paralytic. 



the veterinar'v practitioner. , '"^ souiet.u.es the consequence of v lolent iiiflam- 



latioii of the bowels. It is produced by falls. 



veterinary practitioner. 



Great caution and patience are requisite in ad- 

 ministering the drinks, for the elevating of the 

 bead seems to be exceedingly painful to tlie horse. 

 A hall may be di\ided into small pieces, and with 

 a piece of cane or whale-bone conveyed to the 

 back part of the mouth, where it will be dissolved, 

 and must be swallowed. 



As soon as possible the strength should be sup- 

 ported by nutritive food. Tlie ajipetite seldom 

 fails in this disease ; and it is painful to see the 

 repeated eager efforts of the poor animal to allay 

 his hunger. When his jaws are most firmly fixed, 

 he will sometimes be able to suck in tli ; liquid 

 from a moist iiia.-di ; — if ho has the slightest com- 

 lUaiid over them, he wili contrive to swallow the 

 greater part of the mash : and sliould there be 

 room to introduce the mouth of a small horn, he 

 will thnnkfiilly take as nuirli gruel as his attend- 

 ant will give him. Until the jaws arc firmly lock- 

 ed, he may be suffered to have hay, altboii 



blows on the loins, injury in casting, and turning 

 in a narrow stall. In these latter c:ises the spine 

 has been evidently injured. Old carriage horses, 

 and horses of draught of every kind, although not ■ 

 absolutely paralyzed, have often great stiffness in 

 their gait, and dilficulty of turning. Possibly they 

 can turn one way and not the other. They are 

 unwilling to lie down, from experience of the dilTi- 

 ciilty they would have in rising again. These are 

 evident injuries of the spine, and a loss of some of 

 ire joints of the loins or back, and are without 

 remedy ; and so often is palsy. Bleeding, physic- 

 ing, antimonial medicines, and stimulating ciiibru- 

 catioDs, are the most likely means of cure. 



RABIES OR MAD.NESS. 



There is another disease of the nervous systen: 

 of which we must speak — Rabies, or Mad.ness — 

 that incurable malady which results from the bile 

 of a rabid or mad animal. The poison of the 



should only chew it and drop it from the mouth ; I saliva rcmnins in the wound for an uncertain time 

 for this action of the muscles of the jaws may de- 1 varying from three to eight weeks in the horse 

 lay or prevent their total closure. Little medicine „„a then begins to produce its dreadful effects oi. 

 will be wanted as he gets better ; nourishing food,|,|,c system. The attack of rabies (or hydrophobia, 

 not too liberally administered, will constitute the | ^g i[ ig commonlv, but verv improperly called in 

 best tonic ; and should the weather be suflicieiitly j ,|,e lioise and other quadrupe<ls, for they have do 

 warm, few things will do him more good than to Jdread of water) is usually vcrv sudden. The ani- 

 turn him out for two or three hours in the middle | ,„n| will go to work apparentlv well : all at once 

 of the day. It will extend the muscles of his : |,e will stop, tremble, heave, paw, stagger and fall. 



neck, and bring him to the use of his limbs. 



Against one mode of treatment we enter our 

 protest, from its cruelty and its inutility — the ap- 

 plication of cold. Some turn the animal out un- 

 covered in a frosty night. Wo have no failli in 



Almost immediately he will rise ; draw bis load a 

 little farther; again stop, look about him, and 

 once more fall. This cannot be confounded witfi 

 megrims, because the horse is perfectly sensible. 

 Tlie sooner he is led home the belter, lortliepro- 



the practice of this: hut jilacing the poor horse j jj,.ess of the disease is most rapid ; an.l. if he is 

 under a pump, and letting the water flow upon | „o, i„„„ediatelv destroyed, ho should be slung, 

 his spasmed linilis for hours together, or dashing it if,,,, sometimes 'a state of the highest excitation 

 violently upon him, while he crouches and groans . x,,„odily ensues. The horse kicks and plunges in 

 all the while, is both cruel and ii.seless. j ,|,e niost violent manner ; attempts furiously to 



FITS, OR F.i'ii.Ei'ST. I seize and bile llie otlier horses, or his attendants ; 



The stream of nervous influence is sometimes !' and will level with the griuind everythiiig be- 

 ra|iid, but the sus[iensions are considerable, and ! fore him, himself sweating, and snorting, and foatn- 

 tliis is the theory of Fits, or F.pilepsv. For- I ing, ninidsl the ruins.' In both the ferocious and 

 tunately the liorne is not often atllicted with this the liarinless variety of the disease, stagiiering 

 ilisease, although it is not unknown to the breed- and palsy of the hinder extremities soon follow. 

 er. The attack is sudden. The animal stops ; Wc remember to have seen a heauliful mare, sil- 

 — trembles ; — looks vacantly around him, and falls. ' ting on her hatinclips, and unable to rise, yet paw- 

 Occasionnlly the convulsions which follow aro i ing tiirinusly with her fore-feel, and striking at 

 slight; at other times they are terrible. The bead every thing witbinher reach. The thirst is »x- 

 and Hue part of the liorsc are most affected, and cessivc, and the act of swiillo«ing is usually 

 the contortions are most singular. In a few min- performed with a fon-eil gulping efl'orl, and tlia 

 utcs the convulsions cease ; ho gets up ; looks head is, in a few instances, snntcheil violently 



