282 EPILEPSY. 



fore-legs, -while the hind parts were as immovablo as if already 

 stiffen^ by death. Their jaws were set. The parts of the 

 abdomen near the scrotum were considerably swollen and 

 very hard. They generally stood with their legs a little 

 farther apart than usual, but their postures were so natural 

 that at a few rods distance their situation, or that anything 

 unusual was the matter with them, would not have been 

 suspected by anybody. Some six or eight others were 

 speedily attacked and the symptoms were the same. There 

 was not, in a single instance, any peculiar protrusion or 

 retraction of the head or any other member ; and though I 

 watched them for hours, I did not discover the least approach 

 to a convulsion, or even a spasm involving a single muscle. 

 They gave no peculiar evidences of pain — breathed without 

 difficulty — and I think that they all died within about twenty- 

 four hours from the time their situation was discovered. * As 

 theii- jaws were immovably fixed, no internal remedies could 

 be administered, and I thought that the administration of 

 external ooes under such circumstances would be labor 

 thrown away. 



The malady is very rare in the United States, but as it is 

 liable to recur I will mention that the foreign veterinarians 

 recommend prompt bleeding from the jugular vein, and ape- 

 rient medicines, followed by opiates — also warmth and quiet. 

 Mr. Spooner omits bleeding from his recommendations. 



Epilepsy. — Mr. Youatt remarks that " tetanus and 

 epilepsy maybe regarded as kindred diseases in all animals; but 

 that in none do they assimilate to each other as in the sheep." 



Epilepsy appears to be extremely prevalent in England 

 and on the continent of Europe, but is unusual in this country. 

 The sheep when laboring under its attack, suddenly ceases to 

 feed, stares about stupidly, runs round with a staggering gait, 

 falls to the ground, lays there struggling for a few moments, 

 and then gets up and remains for some period in a semi- 

 conscious state. These attacks recur, and a severer one ends 

 in death. It is thought to result from high condition and the 

 nature of the pasturage — aided by certain not very well 

 understood incidental causes. In England it is commonest 

 early in spring and late in autumn. It is so prevalent in 



* I am ashamed to say that being peculiarly hmiied at the time, I made no con- 

 temporaneous written record of the facts, — and therefore am compelled partly to 

 guess at tJiem^ as do all persons who rely on their recollections for fninute and exact 

 facts in such cases. But the general course of symptoms 1 have described are dis- 

 tinctly remembered by mc. 



