PARALYSIS OF THE HIND EXTREMITIES. 
483 
YII.—HYGROMA OF THE SUBCUTANEOUS BURSA OF 
THE TUBER ISCHII IN CATTLE. 
In cattle, which often rest with the hind-quarters against walls, &c., 
chronic dropsy of the subcutaneous bursa on the point of the ischium 
has been observed. A longish, ill-defined, painless, or only slightly 
painful, fluctuating swelling, the size of a man’s fist or even larger, 
develops on the point of the buttock, and on incision discharges a serous 
fluid ; the cavity often contains corpora libra as large as a pigeon’s egg. 
In some recorded cases an incision about 3 inches long was made, the 
corpora libra were removed, arid a tampon of tow saturated with iodine 
tincture was inserted. Recovery occurred in two months. 
YIII.—PARALYSIS OF THE HIND EXTREMITIES. 
PARAPLEGIA. 
Strictly speaking, paraplegia means double-sided paralysis, and in 
general is used to describe disease of the spinal cord, though paraplegia 
is occasionally the result of brain injury. Two forms, complete and 
incomplete paraplegia, are recognised. The former is seen :— 
(1) In injuries to, or pressure on, the spinal cord, following fracture 
of vertebrae in the dorsal, lumbar, or anterior sacral regions (see 
“ Fractures, Ac., of the Dorsal and Lumbar Vertebrae”). Hess saw para¬ 
plegia in a bull caused by caries between the first and second lumbar 
vertebrae. The spinal column presented an elbow directed upwards, and 
the vertebral canal had become narrowed. As the animal was suffering 
from tuberculosis of the epididymis these changes were regarded as 
tuberculous. Stroese saw a case of pachymeningitis spinalis interna 
purulenta in a cow, caused by streptococci and bacterium coli communis. 
Matthiesen identified as the cause of paralysis of the hind-quarters in a 
cow an actinomycotic growth, which, growing from the condyloid foramen, 
had exerted pressure on the medulla oblongata. Dorrwachter found a 
gliosarcoma of the first dorsal vertebra in a cow. In a horse which, 
after falling, had shown gradually progressive paralysis from behind 
forwards, Frohner discovered a circular belt of connective tissue sur¬ 
rounding and strangulating the spinal cord between the fourth and fifth 
cervical vertebrae. 
(2) In inflammation of the spinal cord and its membranes in the 
regions indicated, usually a sequel of some other disease, especially of an 
infectious disease like parturient fever, influenza, strangles, or distemper. 
The enzootic paraplegia, so common in America, belongs to a group of 
infectious diseases which are constantly in evidence in some countries. 
Paraplegia is also one of the symptoms of sunstroke. 
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