495 
A CASE OF HEPATIRRHCEA, ATTENDED WITH AMAUROSIS 
AND OTHER SINGULAR SYMPTOMS. 
By Mr. W. C. Spooner, F.S., Southampton. 
On the 9th of July last, I was requested to attend at the 
stables of Captain Breton, of this town, a carriage-horse, on ac- 
count of a broken knee. The injury was occasioned six weeks 
previously, while travelling to London, and the horse had been 
left in a neighbouring town until a few days since, when he tra- 
velled home in the carriage, a distance of forty miles, without in- 
convenience or fatigue. 
The injury had been rather severe, but the joint had not been 
opened, and my assistance was principally required on account 
of the knee presenting a rather deep lateral fissure, upwards of 
two inches in extent, and apparently through the new-formed 
substance. This fresh injury was stated to have occurred in the 
course of the last week; but previously to his journey home the 
wound was dressed, and the head was ordered to be tied up, so 
as to prevent, as much as possible, the bending of the knee, 
which would, of course, retard the healing of the wound. My 
attention was not called to any other circumstance : the horse 
was in good condition and spirits, and ate and drank as well as 
ever. 
On the 11th I visited the horse again, and was rather struck 
with the aspect of the wound, which presented a concave ap- 
pearance throughout its whole extent — not merely confined to 
the fissure, but both above and below it. On my first visit, 
finding the granulations on the borders of the fissure were too 
luxuriant, l applied some caustic application (I believe the 
sulphate of copper), and directed a little to be used on the 
following day in a similar manner. At first I was inclined to at- 
tribute the loss of substance to the too free application of the 
caustic ; but the sequel of the case will much better explain the 
mystery. The wound was now dressed with a digestive applica- 
tion, over which a linseed poultice was placed. 
On seeing the horse again on the 13th, I found that he had, on 
the previous evening, for the first time refused his food. The 
bowels were costive, the faeces cased in mucus, and the pulse ac- 
celerated, but distinct. 
On approaching the horse, I found a considerable stiffness and 
rigidity of the muscles of the neck ; the animal could not bend 
his head, and touching it produced considerable twitching, both 
of the head and neck. 
I feared, from the character of the wound, and the strangeness 
and peculiarity of the symptoms, that tetanus was threatened ; 
