182 STOMACH-STAGGEKS IN CATTLE. 



with drooping head, the animal picks about, but suddenly 

 acquires a wild look, with prominent bloodshot eyes, quick 

 breathing, and protruded tongue; appetite and rumination 

 being totally suspended. Occasionally the animal looks 

 round to the right side, and in some cases there is a marked 

 tendency to hove. Delirium soon manifests itself, and if tied 

 by the head animals will fall forwards, drop on their side, and 

 lie with rigid quivering limbs lifted in the air until the 

 attack subsides. Cattle that are loose in the fields rush 

 frantically forwards, and indicate impaired vision or total 

 blindness by stumbling over the smallest obstacles, or dash- 

 ing their heads against trees, hedges, dykes, or human beings. 

 There is no ferocity, but violent and prolonged symptoms of 

 derangement of the brain. We have seen animals tear up 

 the soil with their horns, stamping and roaring in the most 

 violent manner. Some cases are characterised by stupor, 

 awkward gait, and even partial paralysis of one or more 

 limbs. The animals cannot walk, and if they move along 

 they prove totally blind from amaurosis or paralysis of the 

 nerves of vision. It is no pleasing task to drive such an 

 animal from place to place, as it manifests some obstinacy 

 to move in its own chosen direction, and falls in a ditch, 

 or breaks through a hedge, or tumbles over in a convul- 

 sive fit. 



The duration of the disease, according to the severity of 

 the attack, varies from an hour or two to several days, death 

 being the usual result unless treatment is very carefully and 

 perseveringly directed. 



The nature of the disease is not, as many have thought, 

 an inflammation of the brain occurring from a distended 

 stomach, but it may be defined as sympathetic delirium from 

 the latter cause. It is not an inflammatory disorder, and treat- 

 ment consists in adopting the most effectual means to unload 



