DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND KEIIVES. 107 



mulatlon of blood In the vessels of the brani. A slight degree 

 of hydrocephalus, or rather a small quantity of water in the 

 ventricle, may exist without producing any vi.<ible effect upon the 

 horse ; but if he is ridden hard, if his stomach and bowels are 

 loaded, or if by high feeding and want of regular exercise he 

 becomes plethoric or too full of blood, the disorder will then be 

 aggravated, and the symptoms I have described will be produced. 

 From this view of the subject it will appear that hydrocephalus 

 may be relieved by avoiding those circumstances by which it 

 may be aggravated and heightened into a visible disorder : and 

 if that disorder does take place in any degree whatever, bleed 

 according to the urgency of the case, and unload the stomach 

 and bowels by physic and clysters. Green food is the best diet 

 for such horses, and if that cannot be had, bran mashes. Very 

 little hay should be allowed. Hanging down the head at grass 

 may favour the accumulation of blood in the vessels of the brain ; 

 when this seems to be the case, the horse should be kept loose in 

 a cool box. I have known distension of the stomach and bowels 

 alone produce a serious attack of vertigo or megrims ; in such a 

 degree, indeed, that a horse rambled and fell down while the 

 owner was riding him. This horse, from being fed moderately 

 and having his bowels emptied with a dose of physic, never had 

 a return of the disorder, and lived many years afterwards. 



Rabies, or Hydrophohia. 



[Rabies, or Hydrophobia, is a disease of the nervous system, 

 somewhat resembling phrenitis in its symptoms, but differino- 

 from it in the great disposition to mischief evinced in rabies : 

 " there is method in the madness." It is invariably produced 

 in the horse by the bite of a rabid animal, generally a dog, and 

 it may manifest itself at various periods, from one month to 

 several after the bite. Mr. Youatt observes in liis lectures, Vet. 

 vol. X., " The earliest, and perhaps the most decisive, symptom of 

 the near approach of rabies in the horse, is a spasmodic move- 

 ment of the upper lips, particularly of the angles of the lip." 



" Close following on this, or contemporaneous with It, is the 

 depressed and anxious countenance, and enquiring gaze, sud- 

 denly however lighted up and becoming fierce and menacing, 

 from some unknown cause, or at the approach of a stranger. 

 From time to time different parts of the frame, the eyes, the 

 jaws, particular limbs, will be convulsed ; the eye will occa- 

 sionally wander after some imaginary object, and the horse will 

 rear again and again at that which has no real existence. Then 

 Avill come the irrepressible desire to bite the attendants and the 

 animals within its reach ; to this will succeed the demolition of 

 the rack, the manger, the whole furniture of the stable, accora- 



