VETERINARY MEDICINE. 



DISEASES OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. 



Nervous control of bodily functions : affected through disease of nerve 

 centres or nerve trunks, sensory, motor, vaso-motor, etc. Modes of im- 

 paired nervous function : objective ; subjective. Nervous characteristics 

 in different breeds, individuals, sexes, castrated animals. Nervous disorder 

 from microbian toxins, narcotics, nervous stimulants, etc. 



All bodily functions are more or less directly coiitrolled by the 

 nervous system, heUce nervous troubles are interwoven with the 

 diseases of all other organs. Disorder of the nerve centres or 

 nerve trunks affects the most distant parts over which these pre- 

 side, or to and from which they convey nervous impulse. In 

 different cases we see this operating through the sensory or 

 motor functions, through lack of coordination ■ or of balance, 

 through modification of the circulation, respiration, secretion, 

 absorption, nutrition, metabolism, special sensation, intellection, 

 emotion, etc. These manifestations are less evident or less diag- 

 nostic in the lower animal, because we cannot fully avail of the 

 subjective symptoms. While the human patient can tell us his 

 feelings and experience in their regular order and succession, we 

 can only infer most of these in the animal, through dependent 

 objective symptoms. In many cases we cannot even infer for 

 lack of dependent symptoms. 



The practitioner must, carefully watch for and accurately ob- 

 serve all objective symptoms, and seek to rightly interpret them. 

 Among other things he must note the nervous conformation, or- 

 ganization and susceptibility ; the hereditary nervous characteris- 

 tics as seen in breeds, temperament, habit, aptitude to learn, 

 docility, instinct, intelligence, emotioiis and affections, and judge 

 the case in the light of these. Similarly he must take into ac- 

 count the hereditary, racial and individual irritability, obstinacy, 

 restiveness, vice, alertness, sluggishness, stupidity, moroseness, 

 and diagnose accordingly. Congestion, anaemia, coma, paresis, 

 paralysis, may result from the neryous disorder and offer valu- 



