NON-COMMUNICABLE DISEASES 239 



lead to paralysis. Prompt rest is essential to recovery. The har- 

 ness should be removed and the patient made comfortable with a 

 blanket. It is not wise to try at once to lead him even to the near- 

 est barn. The urine must be drawn off with a catheter at least 

 twice a day, for the bladder is also paralyzed and cannot be emptied 

 without help. Many different drugs have been employed, but 

 none has proved a specific. The attending veterinarian should 

 be relied upon to administer the treatment which, in his judgment, 

 appears to be best. A gentle physic, together with iodid of potash 

 in 1-dram doses three times a day, are all the drugs usually neces- 

 sary in mild attacks. Good nursing and a soft bed to prevent in- 

 jury while the patient is down are of more importance than medi- 

 cines. 



CEREBROSPINAL MENINGITIS 



"Forage poisoning," "corn-stalk disease," and "blind stag- 

 gers" are terms employed in different sections of the country for 

 a disease that makes its presence known by materially altering the 

 functions of the brain and the spinal cord. 



Cause. — Poisonous substances in the food appear to be the cause 

 of this disease. It is believed that various molds and fungi are the 

 exact cause, but nobody has yet succeeded in producing it by feed- 

 ing them to experimental animals. The theory has been advanced 

 that an infectious agent is the cause. If this is a fact it must, differ 

 from most diseases of a similar nature, for the infection is not 

 directly communicable from animal to animal. 



Symptoms. — Affected horses either show great mental excite- 

 ment or stupor, depending on the action of the bacterial toxins on 

 the nervous tissue. The animal may be found delirious, and rushes 

 about in the stall or paws and kicks, and in other ways seems 

 blind to his surroundings. In many instances the primary symp- 

 toms are a staggering gait, a sleepy attitude, and dizziness. Later 

 the patient falls to the floor, struggles to rise, but is unable to do 

 so, and finally becomes unconscious and dies in two or three days. 



Treatment is of Uttle avail once the disease is well estabhshed. 

 Medicines to quiet the animal and ehminate the toxic substances 

 by way of the alimentary canal are indicated. For the latter 

 subcutaneous administration of arecalin is highly recommended. 

 Prophylactic treatment by changing the feed at once is said to 

 prevent other animals on the farm from becoming affected. One 

 attack of the disease does not confer immunity. 



