DISEASBS OP THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. 109 



dram 01 the extract or half an ounce of the tincture of belladonna, twice 

 a day for several days as a preventive. Clean the old stable thoroughly 

 from all matter, throw over it some chloride of lime, and give the stable 

 a coat of whitewash in which four ounces of carbolic acid has been 

 dissolved in every gallon. Let the stable dry thoroughly. 



Symptoms. There are three grades of attack into which the 

 symptoms may be divided. 



FIRST GRADE. In the most rapidly fatal cases, the first indica- 

 tions are usually a weak, staggering gait; part or total loss of power to 

 swallow; eyesight is poor; muscles twitch and slight cramps may be 

 noticed; soon followed by paralysis of the whole body; inability to 

 stand; sometimes a delirium in which the animal goes through a series 

 of movements as if trotting or running; the delirium becomes violent, 

 and the animal may seriously bruise himself in his struggles, but a deep 

 sleep usually renders him unconscious till he dies, which usually follows 

 in from four to twenty-four hours, from the beginning of the first 

 symptoms. The pulse is variable during the disease; it may seem al- 

 most gone at times; then very rapid and irregular; the breathings 

 generally quick and catchy. When this severe and rapidly fatal form 

 appears, it may not be possible to determine it from encephalitis, only 

 from the fact of other animals in the same stable or neighborhood being 

 similarly affected. 



SECOND GRADE. This is in not so severe a form as the last. 

 The first noticable symptom is a difiiculty in swallowing; a slowness in 

 the chewing of the food; and a weakness which maj^ be first noticed by 

 a loss of strength of the tail, the animal being unable to switch it or 

 offer any resistance if you raise it up over the croup. The pulse is 

 generally a little slow; no evidence of pain; breathing unchanged; 

 temperature little less than in health; bowels may be constipated. If 

 the result will terminate favorable, there will be no change of symp- 

 toms for two or three days, after which gradual improvement. But if 

 the termination will be death, immediately following the stationary con- 

 dition the animal may lose its power to swallow, and the weakness in 

 gait becomes more and more noticable; then sleepiness or coma may ap- 

 pear; the pulse depressed, slow and weak; stertorous breathing; unable 

 to stand; and some rigiduess of the spinal muscles or partial cramp of 

 the neck. Death follows in such cases in from four to six days. 



THIRD GRADE. In this last or mildest form, the inability of 

 voluntary control of the limbs becomes but little marked; the power of 



