20 STAGGERS. 
noise and the resistance but feed the wildness of the fear, and, in the 
end, the driver is carried to a hospital, the horse being laid prostrate 
among the ruins it has made. 
When led back to the stable, a wound is discovered on the animal’s 
forehead. It is so small it is deemed of no consequence. A little 
water oozes from it—that is all—it does not send forth matter, or it 
might deserve attention. However, in a short time the horse becomes 
dull. It will not eat. Soon it falls down and commences dashing its 
head upon the pavement. There it lies, and, day and night, continues 
its dreadful occupation. One side of the face is terribly excoriated, and 
must be acutely painful; but the horrid labor still goes on, each stroke 
shaking the solid earth, which it indents. At last death ends the misery, 
and a small abscess, containing about half a drachm of healthy pus, is 
discovered in the superficial substance of the brain. 
Physic or operation is of no use here. The cranium of the horse is 
covered by the thick temporalis muscles. This alone would prevent the 
trephine being resorted to. Blood would follow the removal of any 
portion of the skull. Besides, what or who is to keep the head still 
during the operation? and, were the operation possible, who would 
own an animal with a hole in its skull? The only means of cure would 
be to afford exit to the matter; and to do that is beyond human in- 
genuity. 
STAGGERS—SLEEPY STAGGERS AND MAD STAGGERS. 
Staggers means no more than a staggering or unsteady gait; an 
incapacity in the limbs to support the body. It therefore, by itself, 
represents only that want of control over voluntary motion which 
generally accompanies injuries to the brain. Mad and sleepy staggers 
represent only different symptoms or stages of cerebral affection. 
Sleepy staggers implies the dull stage, which indicates that the brain 
is oppressed. Mad staggers denotes the furious stage, when the brain 
has become acutely inflamed. 
There is but one origin known for staggers, and that is over-feeding. 
Carters take the team out and forget the nose-bags. The omission is 
not discovered till far on the road. No thought is entertained of turn- 
ing back. The poor drudges, consequently, have to journey far, to pull 
hard and long upon empty stomachs. 
When home is at length reached, the driver thinks to make amends 
for neglect; the rack and manger are loaded. Such animals as are not 
too tired to feed, eat ravenously. The stomach is soon crammed; but 
fatigue has weakened the natural instincts, and domestication has taught 
the horse to depend entirely on man. The creature continues to feed, 
