72 APOPLEXY. 



of blood. It used to be much more common, when it was cus- 

 tomary to keep horses exceedingly fat, overwork them, and then 

 suifer them to eat voraciously until their stomachs were preter- 

 naturally distended. The farmer used to keep his horses at the 

 plough six or eight hours, then suffer them to overgorge them- 

 selves at will. The consequence was, that the farmer's horse 

 was notoriously subject to fits of heaviness and sleepiness — ^to 

 staggers, or half-attacks of staggers. And from the frequent 

 pressure on the optic nerve and other parts, caused by oppres- 

 sion of the brain, they frequently became blind . A better divi- 

 gion of labor, with properly distributed intervals for rest and 

 deeding, have, comparatively speaking, banished deejyy staggers. 



Old horses are more subject to staggers than young ones, their 

 stomachs and digestive fimctions having been weakened by re- 

 peated abuses. 



Hard-worked, and haK-starved animals on being turned into 

 rich pastures, are sometimes attacked. If the weather is hot, 

 the sympathy of the brain with the undue labor of the stomach 

 is more easily excited, and a determination of blood to the brain 

 more readily effected. 



There is nothing in the appearance of the horse which will 

 lead to a discovery of the cause of staggers — ^no yellowness nor 

 twitchings of the skin, no local swellings, as some have de- 

 scribed ; but the practitioner- or owner must get at the truth of 

 the matter as well as he can, and proceed accordingly. 



As to the TREATMENT of staggers, whatever be the cause of 

 the disease, bleeding is the first measure indicated — the over 

 loaded vessels of the brain must be relieved. The jugular vein 

 should be immediately opened. It is -easily got at — it is large — 

 the blood may be drawn from it in a full stream, and, being also 

 the vessel through which the blood is returned from the head, 

 the greater part of the quantity obtained wiU be taken immedi- 

 ately from the overloaded organ, and therefore will be most 

 likely to produce the desired effect. No definite quantity of 

 blood should be ordered to be abstracted. The effect produced 

 must be the guide, and the bleeding must be continued until the 

 horse falters, or begins to blow — or, perhaps, with more assured 

 success, until he falls. Some persons select the temporal artery. 

 This is very unscientific practice. It is difficult, or impossible, 

 to obtain from this vessel a stream that promises any decisive 

 success. It is likewise difficult to stop the bleeding from this 

 artery ; and, ailer aU, the blqod is not drawn from the aetuai 

 seat of the disease — ^the brain. 



The second step is to ascertain what is the cause of the. apo- 

 plexy. If produced by over-distention of the stomach, cathar 

 tics are of little avail. Recourse should be had to the sttwiacM 



