552 NERVOUS DISEASES. 



horse resumes control over the motions of his limbs, and regains 

 his condition. If put to light work and well cared for, recovery 

 seems to be hastened. 



SYMPTOMS OF THE GENERAL FORM.— This form of the 

 disease is mostly confined to the lighter breed of horses, and 

 usually affects a greater percentage of the horses on the paddocks 

 or farms where it prevails, than the previous form ; but is not so 

 widely distributed and occurs only in certain seasons. The fore 

 legs are generally affected as well as the hind ones, but instead of 

 being jerked up like the latter, they are carried stiffly forward, 

 the knee being scarcely bent at all. 



The toe is dragged along the ground, and the animal stumbles 

 awkwardly. When undisturbed, a horse affected in this manner 

 may pasture and get about without much difficulty, but cannot 

 get along at all under excitement. 



A paddock was entered where a number of horses were grazing, 

 and scarcely anything seemed the matter with them ; rushed sud- 

 denly amongst, however, they immediately began to plunge and 

 flounder about in all directions. Some of them would fall over, 

 and others, after making one or two violent struggles to get away, 

 would come to a sudden standstill as though rooted to the ground, 

 their heads being elevated and nostrils dilated, gasping, as it were, 

 for breath, and making a loud roaring or flapping sound during 

 respiiation. If near enough, the heart may b© beard beating 

 violently. When there is plenty of grass, there is not much loss of 

 condition in this form of disease, and with the exception of the 

 above symptoms in varying degrees of intensity, horses thus affected 

 are apparently in good general health and spirits. 



SYMPTOMS OF THE ACUTE GENERAL FORM.— This form 

 never appeared, except in isolated cases, until the year of 1885, 

 and to it is attributable the heavy mortality amongst horses in 

 Gippsland. 



The symptoms differ considerably from those of either of the 

 other forms, but as all three are found affecting different animals 

 in the same mobs at the same time and under precisely similar 

 circumstances, it is evident that they are only modifications of the 

 same disease, and are due to the same cause or causes. 



The first indication of the disease is an alteration in the animal's 

 gait. There is a dragging in all the limbs and frequent stumbling ; 

 the hind fetlocks knuckle over, and the thighs have a thin wasted 

 appearance, when viewed from behind. The horse stands and 

 moves in a crouching manner ; the hind quarters being carried low, 

 and all the joints of the hind limbs flexed. In some cases the 



