DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 113 



that was administered that way, which the guts appeared to suck 

 up, their natural motion being inverted for the purpose : and as 

 he scarcely ate more in three weeks than was sufficient to support 

 him one day, there can be no doubt that he derived nuich nou- 

 rishment from these clysters. He had two men constantly to 

 look after him, who had orders to rub his whole body often, 

 which greatly helped to relax his skin and remove the crampiness 

 of his muscles : and although he had not for the first fortnight 

 recovered the use of his jaws, yet we observed him daily to move 

 with less stiffness, and often to lick the manger as if he craved 

 for food. He also breathed with less difficulty, and had several 

 other good signs. I now determined to try the effect of an 

 opium clyster ; therefore I dissolved half an ounce of crude opium 

 in one of his clysters, which was followed with these circum- 

 stances — that the horse soon lay down, he began to point his 

 ears backwards and forwards, and could move his neck pretty 

 freely, and his mouth was so far at liberty that he took his drinks 

 with little or no difficulty, nnd could eat hay and bran sufficient 

 to sustain him. He likewise moved his whole body so readily 

 that we could walk him an hour every day. That I might follow 

 up this good effect of the 0]num clyster, I gave him some days 

 after 1 oz. of Matthew's pill, Avhich contains about two drachms 

 of opium, and the same quantity of assafcetida. This was given 

 by the mouth, in a ball, and repeated tiie following day. He 

 now recovered daily, and took his drinks only twice a week : and 

 as soon as he recovered his flesh was gently purged, after which 

 he got perfectly w^ell." 



Gibson attributes this disorder to the irritation of botts, or 

 other worms in the stomach. He disapproves of purgatives 

 (either as drenches or as clysters) and bleeding. Modern prac- 

 titioners do not reckon botts among the causes of locked jaw, 

 which is most commonly brought on by the causes before noticed. 

 The great benefit derived from the opium clyster should be 

 carefully recollected. Mr. Wilkinson examined four horses that 

 died under his care, and found the pia mater of the spinal 

 marrow inflamed, and the marrow itself of a dark colour. The 

 pia mater of the brain was likewise inflamed in a slight degree. 

 When locked jaw comes on after docking or nicking, he applies 

 fomentations to the tail, and afterwards dresses thewound with 

 digestive ointment. I cured one case of locked jaw by blistering 

 the back from the withers to the tail, and giving opium and 

 camphor — which we found great difficulty in giving. Every 

 now and then a little gruel was given. By persevering in this 

 treatment the jaws gradually relaxed, and in twenty-four hours 

 the horse was able to eat hay. 



[Mr. W. Percivall relates a successful case of Traumatic tetanies 

 treated by bleeding, physic, opium injections, and blisters. 



I 



