206 



ment. This condition is termed immobiUte by the French, and sleepy 

 staggers \>j our stablemen. It is usually attributed to habitual over- 

 loading of the stomach with bulky food and want of exercise. 



Sijinptoms. — Sleepy staggers is characterized by drowsiness, partial 

 insensibilit3% sluggish and often staggering gait. The animal is 

 inclined to drop his head in the manger and to go to sleep with a wad 

 of hay in his mouth, which he is apt to drop when he awakens. He 

 will stand for a long time Avith his legs placed in an}^ awkward j)osi- 

 tion in Avhich the owner may choose to put them. The bowels are 

 constipated, the pulse slow and soft, with no fever or pain, Tho ani- 

 mal may remain in this condition for many months without much 

 variation of S3'mi:)toms, or he may become entirely comotose, with 

 delirium or convulsions, and die. Chronic cases are always much 

 better in cold weather than in the summer. 



Treatment. — Moderate bleeding from the jugular vein, 1 gallon from 

 a medium-sized horse, and 1^ or 2 gallons from a very large, heavy 

 horse. This should be immediately followed by a cathartic, com^josed 

 of aloes G drams, croton oil G drops, and 1 dram of capsicum, to be 

 made into a ball with hard soap, molasses, or Ijread soaked in water, 

 and given on an empty stomach. After tho cathartic has ceased to 

 oi^erate give one large tablespoonful or half an ounce of the following 

 mixture tAvice a day: Pulverized hydrastis, pulverized ginger, sodium 

 bicarbonate, of each 4 ounces; mix. 



In some cases iodide of j)otassa in dram doses twice a day, alter- 

 nated each week with 1 dram of calomel twice a day, Avill prove suc- 

 cessful. In cases where there is a deeji coma or almost continuous 

 unconsciousness, ice bags or cold-water cloths vshould be applied to 

 the head — between the ears, dropping well down over the forehead 

 and extending backward from the ears for 4 or 5 inches. 



PARALYSIS — PALSY. 



Paral3"sis is a weakness or cessation of the muscular contraction, \>y 

 diminution of loss of the conducting j)ower or stimulation of the motor 

 nerves. Paralytic affections are of two kinds, the perfect and the 

 imi)erfect. The former includes those in Avhich both motion and sen- 

 sibility are affected; the latter those in Avhicli only one or the other is 

 lost or diminished. Paralysis may be general or partial. The latter 

 is diA'ided into hemiplegia and paraplegia. When only a small por- 

 tion of the body is affected, as the face, a limb, the tail, it is desig- 

 nated 'by the term local paralysis. When the irritation extends from 

 the periphery to the center it is termed reflex paralysis. 



Causes. — They are very A^aried. Most of tlie acute affections of the 

 brain and spinal cord vasky lead to paralysis. Injuries, tumors, disease 

 of the blood-vessels of tho brain, etc., all haA^e a tendency to produce 

 suspension of the conducting motive power to the muscular structures. 

 Pressure upon, or the severing of, a nerA^e causes a paralysis of the 



