DISEASES OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. 509 



De classed bad food and under feeding, or over feeding and conse- 

 quent want of assimilation ; rickets, obstructions of the bowels, 

 malformation of one side of the head, improper treatment of skin 

 diseases, prolonged retention of urine, disease of the brain or 

 spinal column, as the result of mechanical injury, or as a sequel to 

 iplenic fever, excess of venery, heredity, etc., etc. 



With this array of causes, to which much might be added, it 

 would appear as though all attempts to treat this disease would 

 necessarily be futile. 



The leading symptoms of this disease are, a temporary suspen- 

 sion of consciousness, with clonic spasms, recurring at intervals. 



The dog, in apparent enjoyment of perfect health, may some- 

 times give notice of an attack by a peculiar short yelp, when he 

 falls instantly to the ground, senseless and convulsed ; again the 

 seizure is only known by finding the animal prostrate, he having 

 fallen suddenly, dropping in his tracks as though fatally shot. He 

 strains and struggles violently, his breathing is embarrassed or 

 suspended ; he foams at the mouth ; a choking sound is heard in 

 his windpipe ; and he appears to be at the point of death from 

 asphyxia— and indeed so dies sometimes. But presently, and by 

 degrees these alarming phenomena diminish, and at length cease ; 

 the animal is left exhausted, heavy, stupid and comatose : but his 

 life is no longer threatened. And in a short time, he is once more 

 to all appearances perfectly well. The same train of morbid phe- 

 nomena recur, however, again and again, at different, and mostly 

 at irreg^ilar intervals. This is a brief description of the most ordi- 

 nary forms of epilepsy. 



The suddenness of the attack is remarkable : in an instant, 

 when least expected by the animal or his master, in the midst of a 

 point, or a movement perhaps, the change takes place ; and the 

 poor animal is stretched foaming, struggling, and insensible upon 

 the earth. The muscular convulsions are strong, irregular, and 

 often universal ; and one side of the body is usually more agitated 

 than the other. The integument of the forehead above the eyes is 

 usually puckered into folds ; the eyes sometimes quiver and roil 

 about, sometimes are fixed and staring, sometimes are turned up 

 beneath the lids, so that the whites alone are visible ; the tongue 

 is thrust through the sides of the jaws, perhaps bitten, often 



