154: The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser. 



INFLAMMATION OF THE BEAIN. PHRENITIS. ENOEPHAIITIS. 

 CEBEBBAL MENINGITIS. 



This is seen in all domestic animals but especially in 

 horses, oxen and sheep. Among the causes may be men- 

 tioned : blows on the he.ad with concussion of the brain 

 or fracture of the cranial bones ; plugging of the vessels 

 in the braui by clots formed in diseases elsewhere ; ia- 

 fection of the blood with pus or putrid animal fluids ; 

 sudden changes of temperature ; exposure to extreme heat 

 or cold ; the over-exertion of plethoric animals ; alcoholic 

 poisoning from feeding spoiled products of distilleries ; 

 congestion from a tight collar, loss of jugular, or diseased 

 heart; sympathetic nervous disorder from indigestion; 

 the growth of tumors or parasites in the brain; feeding 

 on ergoted grasses or smut. 



Symptoms. If the brain substance alone is involved 

 there is usually dullness, stupor, and palsy, sensory and 

 motor : if the membranes covering the brain, there is 

 more violence, delirium, irregular movements, pawing, 

 stamping, champing the teeth, and partial or general con- 

 vulsions. In either case there is trembling, elevated 

 tei^erature, excited pulse and bresithing, heat about the 

 upper part of the head, injected glaring eyes, rolHng or 

 set, extreme excitability and violent trembling even when 

 just roused from stupor. The patient will sometimes bore 

 the head against an obstacle, or rest his haunches on any 

 object within reach. The violence is not necessarily con- 

 tinuous, but usually occurs in paroxysms, leaving intervals 

 of stupor and comparative quiet. During the paroxysm 

 the subjects may cry : horses neigh, cattle bellow, sheep 

 bleat, pigs squeal and grunt. During the periods of 

 stupor the pulse and breathing are usually slow, and this 

 applies also to those cases in which the disease has 

 merged into a condition of vertigo, coma or paralysis. 



Treatment. Apply ice or cold water to the head, give 

 injections of turpentine and oil, a strong purgative (horse, 

 aloes and croton ; sheep, ox, Glauber salts and croton 



