46 DISEASES OF HORSES AND CATTLE. 



tially insensible to light, and the muscles trem- 

 ble; or the animal may stagger, the grunt is now 

 constant, the pulse, which was not much affected 

 at first, is now rapid and weak, eighty to one hun- 

 dred per minute. In some cases the brain be- 

 comes affected in the early stage and the animal 

 becomes frantic and runs wildly about; the vision 

 seems to be impaired or there is total blindness, as 

 the animal will stumble over anything that comes 

 in its way, dashing its head against trees, fences, 

 or human beings. I have seen some animals tear- 

 ing up the ground with their horns and bellowing 

 in a violent manner. Some cases are affected with 

 stupor, staggering gait, or even partial paralysis. 

 The nature of this derangement is not an inflam- 

 mation of the brain, but a sympathetic delirium 

 caused from an over-distended stomach. This dis- 

 ease is what is called "mad itch." It seems to be 

 more prevalent some years than others, and was 

 thought to be caused by eating corn stalks; but 

 we find it in animals that never had any. The 

 urine is sometimes mixed with blood. If the ani- 

 mal is not relieved it may die in a few days or live 

 for two weeks. Very often a foetid diarrhoea sets 

 in before death. Treatment: Give one quart of 

 raw linseed oil with two drams of fluid extract of 

 belladonna in it at a dose; follow this with one 

 pound of Epsom salts, one and a half drams of qui- 

 nine, dissolved in half a gallon of cold water and 

 given at one dose. If the animal is in great dis- 

 tress, give one dram of belladonna fluid extract in 

 half a pint of raw linseed oil every four hours. If 



