136 THB HORSE. 



post the animal will wander in a circle at the end of the rope. It wan- 

 ders almost invariably in one direction, either from the right to left or 

 from left to right in different cases, which is dependent upon a greater 

 congestion of one side of the brain than the other. The pupils may be 

 dilated or contracted, or we may find one condition in one eye and the 

 opposite in the other. 



The period of excitement is followed by one of profound coma, in 

 which the animal is immobile, the head hanging and placed against the 

 corner of the stall, the body limp, and the motion, if demanded of the 

 animal, unsteady. Little or no attention will be paid to the surrounding 

 noises, the crack of the whip, or even a blow on the surface of the body. 

 The respiration becomes slower, the pulsations are diminished, the coma 

 lasts for variable time, to be followed by excesses of violence, after 

 which the two alternate, but if severe the period of coma becomes longer 

 and longer until the animal dies of spasms of the lungs or of heart 

 failure. It may die from injuries which occur in the ungovernable at- 

 tacks of violence. 



Treatment. While the appetite remains the patient should have a 

 moderate quantity of sound hay, good oats and bran; or even a little 

 fresh clover, if obtainable, can be given in small quantities. With the 

 first decided symptoms of fever the antipyretics are indicated, of which 

 we have a variable choice. Bleeding in this disease is a questionable 

 treatment, and is only to be employed at the very outset of the disease. 

 In large, strong horses of a sanguinary temperament an abstraction of a 

 few quarts of blood will frequently diminish the stupefaction, lower the 

 temperature, slow the pulse and respiration and, render the course of the 

 disease shorter by twelve or twenty-four hours. In some cases, how- 

 ever, bleeding seems to increase the amount of depression, and it should 

 never be used after the deep ocher color of the mucous membranes show 

 that an extensive disintegration of the blood corpuscles has taken place. 

 Derivatives, in the form of essential oils and mustard poultices, baths of 

 alcohol, turpentine and hot water, after which the animal must be im- 

 mediately dried and blanketed, serve to wake the animal up from the 

 stupor and relieve the congestion of the internal organs. 



This treatment is especially idicated when complication by congestion 

 of the lungs, intestines, or of the brain is threatened. Quinine and sali- 

 cylic acid in dram doses will lower the temperature, but too continuous 

 use of quinine in some cases increases the after depression. Aconite is 

 especially indicated, as in addition to its action on the circulation it seems 



