CHOREA. 275 



CHOREA. 



The common and well-known term by which this form of disease 

 is designated in the human subject is "St. Vitus' Dance," and 

 although it is probable that while it is correct pathologically to 

 speak of the nervous disturbances of the muscular system, which 

 provoke the abnormal conditions known among horsemen as 

 " shivering " and " stri^ighalt,"' among those classified under the 

 general head chorea the symptoms are not identical with those 

 observed either in man or dog. Whether it is the brain or the 

 spinal cord that is principally affected, or which of these localities 

 of the nervous system is the seat of the disturbance that produces 

 these peculiar manifestations in the horse has not been definiteh^ 

 decided by pathologists, therefore we shall not attempt to discuss 

 the question. In man and in dogs the choreic spasms, whatever 

 limb or part of the body they may effect are as a rule fairly con- 

 tinuous, but in the horse that is a " shiverer''' this is not the case; 

 and for this reason there is the greater necessity, when buying a 

 perfectly strange horse, to avail of every well known test to dis- 

 cover whether or no there is any tendency to this disease; this 

 remark applies especially to horses of the heavier breeds, among 

 which it is most commonly observed. Stringhalt, however, once 

 developed is constant, and there need be little fear of deception 

 from that source; with regard to its influence upon the usefulness 

 of ahorse there is a marked difference; a " shiverer'' is to all 

 intents and purposes a useless animal for draught w^ork; the 

 animal may be able to move forward fairly well, but when it 

 comes to backing it is a different thing altogether; strange to 

 say, however, though patent to the observation of the greatest 

 novice, '' stringhaW does not seem to effect a horse's useful- 

 ness; we have known many horses that were the subjects of these 

 peculiar muscular spasms, that worked regularly with, apparently, 

 no difficult}' ; one case being that of a well known hunter whose 

 owner rode him regularly ever\' week to hounds and was as a rule 

 among the first flight and that in a close country where the jumps 

 were numerous and the fences frequently awkward. It is not 

 necessary to make reference to the symptoms of stringhalt it is so 

 well known, but some notice must be taken of those that indicate 

 ' ' shiverinz. ' ' 



