THE HORSE IN SICKNESS AND DISEASE 279 



which is aided by the addition of calomel. It may be 

 administered in ball or drench, as most practicable. 



Decoction of aloes .... 1 pint. 



Calomel i drachm. 



Warm the decoction, and stir in the calomel. 



Or of 



Purging mass J ounce. 



Calomel J drachm. 



Mix into a bail. A drachm of the farina of croton seeds 

 may be used instead. 



Mr. Percivall concludes : " It would be futile to give 

 further directions where so much must depend on the 

 circumstances of each individual case, and so much rest on 

 the nerve and discretion of the practitioner." 



Abscess in the Brain may be looked upon as beyond the 

 reach of veterinary skill. Abscess in its general sense will 

 be noticed under a separate head, and in the parts in which 

 it occurs. Abscess in the brain is the result of external 

 injury. It is usually the result of fracture of some of the 

 skull bones. A small wound is sometimes seen after a 

 runaway horse has clashed a vehicle to pieces. It heals, and 

 there is no discharge. The mischief is within. Abscess 

 is forming. In the picturesque description of Mayhew : 

 " The horse becomes dull, as in sleepy staggers. It refuses 

 its food, lies down, and after a time beats its head upon the 

 pavement. Death ends its misery, and a small abscess, 

 containing about half a drachm of healthy pus, is dis- 

 covered in the superficial substance of the brain." Neither 

 operation nor physic avail here. The only means of relief 

 would be to afford an exit to the matter ; but this is " past 

 all surgery " of a remedial character. 



VERTIGO (mEGKIMS). 



As apoplexy, in the sense of human practice, can scarcely 

 be said to be a horse disease, though scientific veterinarians 

 have recognised a distinction between it and sleepy staggers, 

 which seems sufficiently marked, we shall consider vertigo, 

 or megrims, as its equivalent, and megrims as minor 

 apoplexy, or rather epilepsy, in horse nosology. Megrims, 



