AUSTRALIAN STEINGHALT. 553 



muscles of the shoulders also become atrophied. If the horse is 

 made to move ajiy distance, he breaks out into a perspiration. As 

 in the other forms of the disease, the attack is usually very sudden, 

 and the sudden wasting of the muscles is not so easily accounted 

 for. If the horse should fall or lie down, he may be unable to 

 rise, and, if not properly attended to, death usually takes place 

 about the third or fourth day. When down, the animal struggles 

 violently, and often paws great holes in the ground, using the 

 hind legs as well as tlie fore ones, thus showing that the inability 

 to rise is not due to paralysis of the hind extremities, as some 

 suppose ; if raised by means of slings, he can both stand and walk ; 

 and if the horse has not lain too long before assistance is given, 

 and is properly attended to afterwards, he usually recovers. When 

 standing, the weight is frequently shifted from one hind leg to the 

 other, and the limb that is being relieved is suddenly snatched up, 

 though not to the same extent as in the other two forms of the 

 disease. The crouching attitude with the knuckling over of the 

 hind fetlocks is maintained in standing, and the animal is often 

 wet from perspiration as if from pain. The fetlock joints are often 

 hot, tender and swollen. The appetite is generally good in all 

 forms of the disease, and even when down in the last-described 

 form, the horse will often eat up to the last. Beyond perhaps a 

 little constipation, the bowels remain unaffected, and the urine is 

 voided in the usual quantities without difficulty. The pulse is 

 invariably quick in all forms of the disease, is often weak, and 

 sometimes both irregular and intermittent, showing that the action 

 of the heart is disturbed. The breathing is not materially affected, 

 except when the horse has been disturbed, or is suffering more than 

 usual pain. The internal temperature did not vary more than 

 one or two degrees beyond the normal, in any of the cases that 

 came under notice. The mucous merribranes are usually nonnal, 

 though sometimes there may be a slight yellowish tinge. The first 

 sign of recovery in this form is a gradual straightening of the 

 hind fetlocks, and disappearance, of the pain and nervousness ; but 

 the muscles of the thighs and shoulders are slow to regain their 

 ordinary form. 



PREVENTION.— From what has already been stated, it is 

 clearly evident that a change of pasture, as well as of locality, is 

 one of the surest means, not only for preventing the disease, but 

 also for hastening recovery in those already affected. Pasturing 

 cattle or sheep along with horses appears to have a beneficial 

 influence. Overstocking and long-continued pasturing exclusively 

 with horses should be avoided, especially on land that has been 

 imder the plough and afterwards laid down with cultivated grasses. 



