DISEASES AND TREATMENT OF THE HORSE 257 
Causes. — It is the result of being bitten by a dog or cat. 
It never originates in the horse. 
Symptoms. — There is extreme restlessness. He bites or 
rubs the part that has been bitten. Brain disturbance soon 
follows these earlier symptoms, similar in some respects to 
that during an attack of inflammation of the brain. The 
symptoms of hydrophobia have the additional feature of 
viciousness, as shown by the destructive impulse and also by 
attempts to bite his attendant. The excitement increases. 
He turns round and round, finally falls and dies. 
Treatment. — When the symptoms as here outlined are 
apparent, destroy the horse at once. 
A bite from a dog may be treated — before symptoms of 
hydrophobia appear — as follows: With a sharp knife cut 
away the flesh in the vicinity of the wound and then burn 
with caustic potash or nitrate of silver. Should these not 
be at hand use a red-hot iron or anything to destroy the 
poison. 
11. Lockjaw (Tetanus). 
This is purely a disease of the nerves and receives its 
name because of the peculiar effect upon the muscles of the 
jaw, causing them at times to become so set that it is an 
utter impossibility to pry them apart. It appears in two 
forms, viz: the traumatic following a visible injury or opera- 
tion and the diopatic, which develops when no injury or 
operation is apparent. 
Cause. — It is due to a germ — tetanus bacillus — entering 
the system through an abrasion of the skin or mucous mem- 
brane. The symptoms begin to appear from eight to twenty- 
one days after the occurrence of the injury. The abrasion 
may be slight or severe, as it has been known to follow the 
prick of a nail in the foot as well as a stake or cut. It may 
follow any operation — docking, nicking a horse's tail, or 
castration. Injury to the skin while blistering severely may 
account for it. 
It is more likely to follow castration if the castrated 
animal be allowed to remain in cold winds and rain or walk 
through or stand in cold water. A case is on record in which 
twenty-four castrated horses were allowed to bathe in cold 
water. Sixteen of the twenty-four died of lockjaw. The 
necessity of operating in fine weather and of keeping the 
