SPASM OF THE LAEYIfX. 251 



should be much debilitated, Port Wine or Aromatic Ammonia 

 are the best stimulants to use. 



Cleanliness, warmth, and dryness are especially essential to 

 the patient in this disease. 



SPASM OF THE LARYNX. 



Spasm of the Larynx is altogether a secondary affection, 

 and may, with every propriety, be regarded as one of those 

 sequences of a dangerous character which are so greatly to be 

 dreaded, and especially to be guarded against during the exist- 

 ence of Laryngitis or Strangles. 



Symptoms.— -The symptoms of laryngeal Spasm are of so 

 evident a nature as to declare the true character of the affection 

 in the most decisive manner. Sometimes the Spasm manifests 

 itself in a moment, and that too, with terrible severity. The 

 animal gasps for breath ; the eyeballs protrude ; the eyes 

 present a wild, staring appearance ; the nostrils are dilated to 

 their utmost extent ; the nose is protruded ; the flanks heave 

 with excessive violence ; and, during the act of inspiration, a 

 sound is heard which will vary in character and intensity 

 according to the vigour of the Spasm. Sometimes this sound 

 will be loud and shrill ; sometimes a kind of scream ; at other 

 times like a loud twang from a trumpet — or it will be rasping, 

 or snoring, or like that elicited from sawing wood. 



As the disease proceeds, the general symptoms become more 

 violent ; the mucous membranes of the mouth and nostrils 

 assume a purple colour ; the animal becomes partly unconscious; 

 he rushes wildly from place to place, as though seeking for aid ; 

 the body becomes suffused with a steaming perspiration ; until 

 at last the spasm is either spontaneousl}^ relieved (which is 

 very rarely the case), or the animal falls heavily to the ground, 

 struggles a few moments, and dies completely asphyxiated. 



