Meningo — Encephalitis. Staggers. loi 



usually beats strongly, often tumultuosly, and the pulse varies 

 greatly — infrequent or frequent, strong or weak, full or small. 

 With cerebritis it is often abnormally slow. 



Hyperthermia is always present to a greater or less extent, 

 being often more marked in the more violent forms or those in 

 which meningitis appears to predominate than in the purely cere- 

 bral forms. The temperature may vary from loi" to io6°. 



The optic disc is congested. 



Probably in all cases or nearly all there is a preliminary stage 

 of excitement, in which the eye is clear, the eyelids open, the 

 aspect alert and the whole skin affected by a marked hyper- 

 aesthesia. In some cases the symptoms of excitement are much 

 more violent at the outset of the disease, as marked by trembling, 

 nervous movements, pawing, pushing the head against the wall . 

 while the motions of walking or trotting are performed by the 

 limbs, or those of plunging forward, rearing up, drawing back 

 on the halter, etc. 



But even when the disease seems to have started with stupor 

 and coma, these paroxysms of excitement almost invaribly ap- 

 pear at intervals as it advances. Some, however, plunged in 

 stupor or coma at the first, remain in this condition until they 

 end in paralysis or death, or start in convalescence. 



During one of the paroxysms the trembling animal may push 

 his head against the wall as if pulling a heavy load ; at other 

 times he will plunge with his feet in the manger and recoiling^ 

 fall to the ground, where he struggles violently in an apparent ef- 

 fort to rise ; others rear up, pulling on the halter or breaking it 

 and falling back over ; some pull back on the halter and throw 

 themselves down ; some grind the teeth, or seize the manger, or 

 strike blindly with the fore limbs. When seized out of doors 

 the horse may be quite uncontrollable and refuse to return to the 

 stable even when led by two men with double halters. In all 

 such cases the eye has a fixed, glaring aspect which is the more 

 pronounced when the pupils are dilated, the conjunctiva is 

 deeply congested, of a deep, brownish re4 with a tinge of yellow. 

 This is usually greatly enhanced by the bruises and extravasa- 

 tions caused by pushing or knocking the head against the wall. 

 The same violence may lead to serious bruises and injuries else- 

 :where, even fractures of the orbital process or zigoma, of the 



