LOCKED JAW. 



79 



If a horse is bitten by a dog under suspicious circumstances, he 

 should be carefully examined, and every wound, and even the 

 slightest scratch, well burned with the lunar caustic (nitrate of 

 silver). The scab should be removed and the operation repeated 

 on the third day. The hot iron does not answer so well, and 

 other caustics are not so manageable. In the spring of 1827, 

 four horses were bitten near Hyde Park, by a mad dog. To one 

 of them the lunar caustic was twice severely applied — he lived. 

 The red-hot iron was unsparingly used on the others, and they 

 died. The caustic must reach every part of the wound. At the 

 expiration of the fourth month, the horse may be considered to 

 be safe. 



TETANUS, OR LOCKED JAW. 



Tetanus is one of the most dreadful and fatal diseases to which 

 the horse is subject. It is called locked jaw, because the mus- 

 cles of the jaw are earliest affected, and the mouth is obstinately 

 and immovably closed. It is a constant spasm of aU the volun- 

 tary muscles, and particularly of those of the neck, the spine, and 

 the head. It is generally dow and treacherous in its attack. 

 The horse, for a day or two, does not appear to be quite well ; he 

 does not feed as usual ; he partly chews his food, £ind drops it ; 

 and he gulps his water. The owner at length finds that the mo- 

 tion of the jaws is considerably limited, and some saliva is driv- 

 elling from the mouth. If he tries he can only open the mouth 

 a very httle way, or the jaws are perfectly and rigidly closed ; 

 and thus the only period at which the disease could have been 

 successfiilly combated is lost. A cut of a horse laboring under 

 this disease is here given, which the reader will do well to oxam- 

 •ne carefully. 



Fig. 9. 



