2 
MR. YOUATt’s veterinary LECTURES. 
cantly around him ; perhaps he will take a lock of hay, but, ere 
it is half masticated, the eye closes, and he sleeps again with the 
food in his mouth. Soon afterwards you perhaps rouse him once 
more; the eye opens, but it has an unmeaning glare; you move 
your hand before it, but it closes not; you speak to him, you 
halloo to him, but he hears not; but the half-chewed food again 
drops from his mouth. The last act of voluntary motion which 
he will attempt is usually to drink ; but he has little power over 
the muscles of deglutition, and the fluid returns through the 
nostrils. He begins to foam at the mouth—he is every moment 
balancing more from side to side, until, at length, he falls: 
his breathing is laborious, stertorous; it is performed by the 
influence of the organic nerves, and those of animal life no 
longer lend their aid. The pulse is slow and oppressed ; the ju¬ 
gular vein is swelled almost to bursting; the muzzle is cold, and 
the discharge of the feces involuntary. The eyes are now open, 
protruded, fixed, and the pupils dilated. The animal grinds his 
teeth; twitchings steal over his face and attack his limbs, and 
they sometimes proceed to convulsions, and dreadful ones too; 
the horse beats himself about in a fearful manner, but there is 
rarely disposition to do mischief. In the greater number of cases, 
however, the convulsions last not long: all the powers of life are 
oppressed, and death speedily closes the scene. 
Post-mortem Appearances .—The whole venous system is in a 
state of congestion, but the vessels of the brain are peculiarly 
turgid with black blood. Occasionally there is no inflammation 
of the brain or its membranes; but in the majority of cases, and 
particularly when the horse has been violent, there are evidences 
of considerable inflammatory action. The stomach generally 
contains a more than usual quantity of food; and where that 
viscus is empty, the large intestines are loaded with foul matter. 
In these cases, there is evident inflammation of the stomach or 
the intestines, according as either of them is thus overloaded. 
M. Girard has recorded a case in which a horse died of staggers, 
with many of the characters of phrenitis. A large tumour was 
found in the right curvature, filled with sanious pus. The parietes 
of the tumour were much thickened, and dense bands ran across 
it from side to side. The small intestine was in many places 
contracted, and its surface was studded with numerous red and 
brown spots. There was no accumulation of food in any part of 
the digestive canal. In another case, there were two congested 
tumours in the stomach, each of them covered with bots, and 
containing a multitude of worms no larger than a hair. 
The kind of Horses most exposed to this Complaint .—This disease 
is found more frequently in the stable of the postmaster and the 
