CONGESTION. 481 



somewhat above his work, and* gallop him to the top of his 

 speed ; his nervous system becomes highly excited — the heart 

 beats with fearful rapidity— the blood is pumped into the lungs 

 faster than they can discharge it — the pulmonary vessels be- 

 come gorged, fatigued, and utterly powerless— the blood, arrest- 

 ed in its course, becomes viscid, and death speedily ensues. We 

 have but one chance of saving our patient — the instantaneous 

 and copious abstraction of blood ; and only one means of pre- 

 venting the recurrence of this dangerous state; namely, not 

 suffering too great an accumulation of the sanguineous fluid by 

 over-feeding, and by regular and systematic exercise, which will 

 inure the circulatory vessels to prompt and efficient action 

 when they are suddenly called upon to exert themselves. This 

 is an extreme case, but the cause and the remedy are sufficiently 

 plain. 



Again, the brain has functions of the most important nature 

 to discharge, and more blood flows through it than through any 

 other portion of the frame of equal bulk. In order to prevent 

 this organ from being oppressed by a too great determination of 

 blood to it, the vessels, although numerous, are small, and pur- 

 sue a very circuitous and winding course. If a horse highly fed, 

 and full of blood, is suddenly and sharply exercised, the course 

 of the blood is accelerated in every direction, and to the brain 

 among other parts. The vessels that ramify on its surface, or 

 penetrate its substance, are completely distended and gorged 

 with it ; perhaps they are ruptured, and the effused blood presses 

 upon the brain ; it presses upon the origins of the nerves, on 

 which sensation and motion depend, and the animal suddenly 

 drops powerless. A prompt and copious abstraction of blood, 

 or, in other words, a diminution of this pressure, can alone save 

 the patient. Here is the nature, the cause, and the treatment of 

 apoplexy. 



Sometimes this disease assumes a different form. The horse 

 has not been performing more than his ordinary work, or per- 

 haps he may not have been out of the stable. He is found with 

 his head drooping and his vision impaired. He is staggering 

 about. He falls, and lies half-unconscious, or he struggles vio- 

 lently and dangerously. There is the same congestion of blood 

 in the head, the same pressure on the nervous organs, but pro- 

 VoL. II.— ,31 



