STAGGERS. 93 
mouth clammy; the ears motionless; the tail without movement, and 
the breathing alone testifies that it is a living animal we look upon. 
The signs that announce the advent of mad staggers, from whichever 
cause the disease may arise, are always alike. The lid is raised, and 
the eye assumes an unnatural brightness. The nasal membrane reddens; 
the surface becomes as hot as it was previously deficient in warmth; the 
movements are quick and jerking. The breath is no longer laborious— 
it is rapid, sharp, and drawn with a kind of panting action. The whole 
appearance is altered. The characteristics of approaching frenzy can 
hardly be mistaken. : 
Then comes the most painful duty of ownership over life. The pro- 
prietor has, then, to make a speedy choice, whether his dumb servant is 
to take a desperate chance and undergo a torture for which the con- 
centrated pleasure of many lives could not atone, or be deprived of the 
fatal power to injure others and itself. Humanity would unhesitatingly 
pronounce for death, and, in this case, there is need of haste. The 
symptoms are so rapidly matured, that, in ten minutes, the poor horse 
may be sadly hurt and bleeding, panting and rearing, in the center of a 
THE HORSE DURING THE MAD STAGE OF STAGGERS. 
desolated stable. A mad horse is a terrible object! Its strength is so 
vast that ordinary fastenings yield before it; but the animal, even when 
deprived of reason, wins our respect. Suffering will find expression in 
energetic action. Man, when a tooth is about to be extracted, generally 
