521 
On the Diseases of the Spinal Cord and its 
Membranes in the Horse. 
By M . Bouley, Jan . 
[Recueil de M6decine Veterinaire, Dec. 1829.] 
They who have compared with care the diseases of the ner¬ 
vous system in man and the horse, have remarked that these 
affections appear to have relation to the development and import¬ 
ance of this system in each. In man, whose brain is large, and 
his spinal cord little developed, cerebral maladies prevail, while, 
in the horse, whose conformation is the reverse, affections of the 
spinal cord are most frequently observed. The organization of 
the spinal marrow, the important functions which it exercises, 
and the phenomena which result from the alterations of which it 
is susceptible, have not been sufficiently studied ; and to this we 
must attribute the almost absolute silence which some writers on 
the medical treatment of domestic animals have kept on the ma¬ 
ladies of this important organ ; maladies which, by their fre¬ 
quency, and their nature, ought to engage more of the attention 
of veterinarians. Particular circumstances having permitted me 
to collect a great number of facts on these affections of the horse, 
I proceed to consider them in this memoir; but I w r ould premise, 
that I have no intention to offer a correct and full history of these 
diseases—I leave that for a more scientific and practised pen. 
I know that the records of cases which I possess are neither suf¬ 
ficiently numerous nor complete to justify me in attempting this ; 
but my object will be attained if I shall be enabled to throw some 
light on a division of our pathology hitherto so obscure. 
Although the maladies of the spinal marrow are yet little 
known in veterinary medicine, they have been the subject of 
many researches. Among those who have particularly occupied 
themselves in this study, I must mention the name of Dupuy. 
The Director was the first among us wdio made us sensible how 
important was the observation of the alterations of the contents of 
the spinal canal. He has collected together a crow r d of facts on 
this subject, contained in the records of the veterinary schools, 
and in the journals of human and veterinary medicine; and from 
which it appears that the softening of the spinal cord is of fre¬ 
quent occurrence among our domestic animals, and that he has 
remarked it in diseases which appear to have little analogy with 
each other, as rabies, palsy, stomach-staggers, 8cc. 
The correspondence of Fromage de Feugre contains only one 
VOL. in. 4 A 
