TETANUS, OR LOCKEDJAW. 105 



times plunges, but he more often rolls himself about; he looks frequently 

 at his flanks with an expression of pain, and he is conscious. 



In madness there may be more or less violence ; there is sometimes a 

 determination to do mischief; and there is always consciousness. 



Over-exertion, when the horse is too fat or full of blood, or 'especially 

 during hot weather, is a frequent cause of inflammation of the brain ; but 

 whatever will produce general fever, may be the cause of mad staggers. 



The treatment adopted by the best practitioners is too often unsuccess- 

 ful. The horse should be bled until he faints or drops ; or if he be down, 

 until he is evidently faint and weak. Both the neck-veins should be 

 opened at once, and the fulness of the stream, or the quickness with which 

 it is taken, is almost as important as the quantity. Physic should then be 

 given. The purge that acts most quickly is the best, and that is the croton 

 nut, powdered cd the time, and given in a drink, in the dose of a half 

 drachm, and followed by smaller doses of ten grains each, every six hours, 

 with plenty of injections of warm soap and water, until the bowels are well 

 opened. If the croton is not at hand, aloes may be given, but dissolved in 

 hot water — an ounce of aloes at the first dose, and, afterwards, a quarter 

 of an ounce every four hours, until purging is produced. This being ef- 

 fected, those medicines should be given which have a tendency to lessen the 

 force of the circulation, and, consequently, the determination of blood to 

 the head. The most powerful of these are the foxglove, and tartar emetic, in 

 doses of a drachm each, three or four times in the day. Hellebore should 

 not be given on account of the previously too great determination of blood 

 to the brain. The head should be blistered, but rowels and setons give 

 useless pain, for the horse is either cured or dead before they perceptibly 

 begin to act. 



TETANUS, OR LOCKED-JAW. 



We have described the nerves as proceeding from the brain and spinal 

 marrow, and conveying the power of feeling and motion to the whole frame. 

 This power may be best conceived by considering it as an influence pro- 

 ceeding from the brain to every part. In a state of health, it is regularly 

 and uniformly distributed ; but it is much affected by disease. It may rush 

 on violently and without interruption, and we have cramp, and tetanus, or 

 locked-jaw : or the stream may be rapid, but with considerable suspensions, 

 and we have fits ; or it may be quite suspended, and we have palsy. 



Tetanus is one of the most dreadful and fatal diseases to which the horse 

 is subject. It is called Locked-Jaw, because the muscles of the jaw are 

 earliest and most powerfully affected. Tetanus is a constant spasm of all 

 the voluntary muscles, and particularly of the neck, the spine, and the head. 

 It is generally slow and very treacherous in its attack. The horse for a day 

 or two does not appear to be quite well ; he does not feed as usual ; partly 

 chews his food and drops it ; and gulps his water. The owner at length finds 

 out that the motion of the jaws is considerably limited, and some saliva is 

 drivelling from the mouth. If he tries the mouth, he can open it only a 

 very little way, or the jaws are perfectly and rigidly closed ; and thus the only 

 time in which the disease could have been successfully combated is losi. 

 We have, therefore, given a cut of a horse labouring under this disease, 

 which the reader will do well carefully to examine as we proceed with the 

 symptoms, that he may be enabled to recognise it in its very earliest stage ; 

 and the moment he does recognise it, he will do well to apply for the 

 very best advice he can get. Most of the peculiarities delineated in the cut 



