SPASMODIC MUSCULAR CONTRACTIONS. 600 
dated by this mal-formation, it was killed, and the following 
were the appearances presented on dissection. 
The bony parietes by which the eyeball is surrounded were 
not so large as the softer organs, so that the side and superior 
part of the socket were merely connected together by cellular 
tissue. The aperture of the left eye measured If inches from 
one corner to the other, and If inches from above to below ; 
while the right one measured lh inches in length, and in 
breadth. 
The anterior chamber of both eyes was unusually small, and 
contained a scarcely perceptible quantity of watery fluid. The 
iris of the left eye appeared to be very much contracted, so that 
only a small opening existed. The posterior chamber of both 
eyes was enormously distended by a clear watery fluid, and the 
iris was wanting in both eyes. The crystalline lens existed in 
its natural form and size in the right eye, but was not to be 
found in the left. The optic nerve was of the usual size, and 
all the other organs of the eye properly formed. 
Magazin f ur gesammte Thierheilkunde 1841, p. 27. 
CASE OF SPASMODIC MUSCULAR CONTRACTIONS. 
By M. JustineFerdinandMasu re, M. V. d St. Mere Eglisc. 
On the first of September, 1837, at 7 o’clock, a.m., I was 
desired to visit a mare that had been taken ill during the night, 
and that was now trembling all over, and threatening to fall 
every instant. 
Previous history. — I found her in good condition. She was 
not naturally more irritable than her neighbours, she had worked 
on the preceding day apparently without inconvenience, and, in- 
deed, on the preceding evening had done so until past sunset, and 
had been dismissed into the meadow as soon as she was un- 
harnessed. She worked always in the shafts, but did not draw 
more than her companions. Early this morning, the boy that 
had the charge of her found her fixed on her four quarters, with- 
out having fed or shifted her place. 
Symptoms. — When viewed from a situation immediately in 
front, the eye was open, and had a cheerful expression ; but she 
was labouring under general convulsive muscular contraction, the 
vulva and the anus being excepted. The muscles of the limbs 
were so strongly contracted, that the tendons which ran along the 
cannon bones were as hard as cords, particularly those which be- 
vol. xiv. 4 L 
