POLL EVIL. 384 
vo 
jagged, till mute intelligence is fairly puzzled. Were mortals in the like 
position, subject to the same terrible chastisement, and, at the same 
time, forbid to inquire the wishes of their commander, they would be 
in no better condition. The panting, sweating, and starting of the poor, 
confused quadrupeds announce their terror. The driver, too enraged 
to understand himself, and too impatient to delay punishment upon the 
objects of his wrath, resorts to the butt-end of his heavy whip. Some 
wretched animal is struck upon the poll, for the head is always aimed at 
when stupidity quarrels with its own ignorance, and a dreadful disorder 
is established. 
All the causes of poll evil may, however, be reduced to one—namely, 
to external injury. ‘The first result of such a cause is pain whenever 
the head is moved. Motion enforces the contraction of the bruised 
muscles; and the agony growing more and more acute, the sufferer 
acquires a habit of protruding the nose in a very characteristic manner 
long before the slightest symptom of the malady can be perceived. 
When forced to bend the head toward the manger, it generally hangs 
back to the length of the halter; for although so doing occasions pain, 
the position renders the necessary angle of the head upon the neck as 
little acute as possible. The anguish attendant upon the earlier stages 
of the disease is exemplified by the length of time occupied in emptying 
the manger. At this stage nothing is apparent; at this period also 
great cruelty is too often exercised when the collar is forced over the 
head regardless of the struggles of the acutely-diseased animal. 
Should the seat of poll evil at this stage of the disease be par- 
ticularly examined, the most lengthened inspection, when prompted by 
expectation, may fail to detect even an indication of probable enlarge- 
ment. Pressure, or enforced motion of the head, excites resistance. <A 
few weeks in some cases, and the swelling becomes marked or prominent. 
In others, the enlargement is never well developed: instances of this 
last kind invariably are the most difficult to treat, for in them the seat 
of the disorder is always most deeply seated. The size of the tumor is 
therefore always to be hailed as a promise that the injury is tolerably 
near the surface, and, consequently, more under the influence of remedial 
measures. 
After pressure has been made, the agony occasioned causes the animal 
to be difficult of approach. The common method of examination is, 
however, very wrong. No good is done by inflicting torture. Some- 
thing, on the contrary, is concealed. Place the fingers lightly on the 
part, and allow them to remain there till the fear, excited by a touch 
upon a tender place, has subsided. Then, and not till then, gradually 
introduce pressure. The more superficial the injury, the more speedy 
