EPILEPSY IN THE HORSE. 
483 
will probably occur in your practice, and illustrative of the 
cephalic and gastric origin of epilepsy. He was called on to visit 
a horse with supposed staggers. He found the animal pressing 
his head against the wall of the stable ; he was, as it were, fixed 
there, and his eyes were open and insensible. All at once he 
beo^an to tremble—he fell—the most violent convulsions ensued 
—the mouth was filled with foam, and the eyes rolled rapidly 
and fearfully in their orbits. This lasted ten minutes, then 
came a calm ; the horse got up, covered with a profuse perspi¬ 
ration, and quite exhausted. The practitioner guessed that this 
arose from intestinal irritation, producing a determination of 
blood to the head, and, that giving origin to epileptic convul¬ 
sions, and he administered a considerable quantity of emetic 
tartar (a most valuable vermifuge in the horse) ; this caused 
the evacuation of nearly 400 worms, and the epileptic fits re¬ 
turned no more*. • • 
Treatment. Bleeding .—There are two or three cases on re¬ 
cord in which epilepsy has been clearly traced to dentition. 
You, however, gentlemen, will not often be so fortunate as to 
discover the cause, or remove the tendency to this disease. You 
will, of course, make yourselves, as much as you can, masters of 
every circumstance, and take your measures accordingly. Where 
you are unable to discover the cause you will always be justified 
in bleeding from the jugular, for either there is determination to 
the head from general fulness of blood, or, if the disease should 
by possibility be connected with debility, there will be an irre¬ 
gular distribution of the blood. More than the natural quantity 
will be congested about the brain, and venesection, to an extent 
to be determined by the circumstances of the case, will be indi¬ 
cated. 
Treatment continued .—With bleeding purging should be asso¬ 
ciated, and, to a moderate degree, should be continued for a 
considerable time. A seton should be passed along the sagittal 
suture. Some practitioners, under the notion of derivation or 
alteration of the current of the fluids, prefer to insert it under 
the jaw or the brisket. 
At the same time, so far as it can be accomplished without 
inducing a plethoric state, the constitution should be strengthened. 
The vegetable tonics, ginger, gentian, and calumba are to be 
preferred; but there is no objection to the carbonate or the 
sulphate of iron. Green meat is useful, and a salt mash has 
been said to have removed altogether the epileptic diatheses. 
Difficult// of Cure .—After all, however, the instances of per- 
* Tlic case will I>e found at Icnj^tli in this Number. 
