158 DISEASES OF THE- HORSE. 



been farmers' horses tlmt have been kept hard, and worked hard, 

 and in whom the stomach has been gradually weakened, and at 

 leno-th brought to that ultimate degree of weakness which is named 

 palsy. In several that I examined, the vessels of the brain were 

 not loaded in a remarkable degree ; the stomach only was affected, 

 and evidently paralysed. Tiie disease is scarcely ever noticed in 

 this class of horses, until it is absolutely incurable. M?iny of those 

 horses were attacked at grass, and almost always in low wet 

 situations, where the grass was rank and abundant. It is not 

 unlikely that in such situations the cold night air and fogs con- 

 tribute something to the increase, if not to the production, of the 

 dlsoi'der. In the neighbourhood of Exeter the disease has at 

 times been veiy common, especially in low, open, wet situations, 

 as in the parish of Stoke, Exminster, and Dawlish. I have 

 cured several cases ; but in these the disorder was taken rather 

 early, and the horses were in tolerable condition, and had been 

 kept in a stable on good food. In none has a cure been effected 

 without a considerable discharge from the bowels of excrement 

 that appeared to have been pent up in them for some time. 



In establishments where hox'ses ai'e worked fairly and pro- 

 perly fed, I have scarcely ever known this disorder happen. Not 

 a single case occurred in the Royal Dragoons during the time 

 I was veterinary surgeon to the regiment ; nor in jNIr. Russelfs 

 establishment in Exeter, whose horses I attended for many 3rears. 

 I am inclined to think the disease is not so prevalent as it was 

 twenty years since ; and this may be owung to an improvement 

 in the method of keeping and feeding horses. Probably, too, 

 the great progress that has been made in the cultivation and 

 draining of low marshy land may have contributed to the decrease 

 of the disorder. 



As soon as stomach staggers are observed, the horse should be 

 bled in order to relieve the head in some degree ; but the prin- 

 cipal object is to enable the stomach to get rid of the load 

 which oppresses it. Various remedies have been proposed for 

 this purpose. The best, I believe, are purgatives joined with 

 cordials and stimulants, and small quantities of warm water fre- 

 quently, in order to soften the contents of the stomach. Clysters 

 of salt and water are useful also, and should be thrown up 

 several times a day. The disease is often incurable, probably 

 from a want of early attention. 



When medicines cannot be readily procured, two or three 

 table-spoonfuls of flour of mustard, and three or four ounces of 

 common salt, may be tried. On whatever cause stomach staggers 

 may depend, I think it a useful precaution, as soon as the disease 

 has made its appearance, to remove other horses from the situ- 

 ation ; and if there is the slightest ground for supposing that the 

 manner of feeding the horses has contributed to it, that likewise 



