THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 361 



But by far the most prominent symptom is the extreme sensitiveness 

 of the skin, for the moment an attempt is made to touch its body the 

 cow will give a loud bellow, open the mouth wide, stick out the 

 tongue, and attempt to jump to one side and kick out. The breath- 

 ing is very quick, and the pulse is full and strong. Treatment. — 

 Bleeding to the extent of from 4 to 6 quarts, followed with from 

 4 to 8 drachm doses of chloral hydrate in 1 pint of cold milk, is 

 serviceable. This medicine can be repeated four or five hours after- 

 wards, if required. The following, however, should be administered 

 as a purgative, viz. : 2 pounds castor oil and 2 pounds treacle, in 

 2 quarts of thin gruel. As a rule this mode of treatment, along with 

 spare feeding on nice digestible food, is very successful. 



594. Sunstroke (see Stomach Staggers, pars. 244 and 304). 



595. Louping-Ill, Trotter-Ill, Trembling, or Sheep Staggers 



(Trembling Paralysis in Sheep, Williams). — This malady is more 

 common in sheep than in any other animal ; cows, however, 

 are sometimes affected. It is mostly seen in Scotland and the 

 North of England, more particularly in Northumberland. It gener- 

 ally appears in the spring, about the middle of April, and in some 

 localities again in October, seeming to be greatly favoured by cold, 

 showery weather. For years great loss has been sustained by its 

 ravages, and numerous investigations have been carried on for the 

 discovery of the cause, yet there is still a great difference of opinion 

 on this point. Farmers and shepherds living on the disease-producing 

 or affected farms say that wherever the rough, coarse, white grasses 

 (principally the dead and decaying foliage of the previous year's 

 growth of sweet-scented vernal [Anthoxanthum odoratum], known as 

 1 tath ') are in abundance the complaint is rife, and they have an 

 idea that these grasses have something to do with the malady. The 

 late Principal Williams, of the New Veterinary College, Edinburgh, 

 from investigations carried on by him for some considerable time, 

 was of opinion that the malady was due to a specific microbe, and 

 mat the tick (Ixodes) played a very important part in acting as host 

 for some of the transformations of the germ. Dr. Klein, in 1893, 

 investigated the matter for His Grace the Duke of Northumberland, 



