ON VETERINARY JURISPRUDENCE. 
573 
others in our profession. But there is another source from whence 
it has, perhaps, been derived by corruption of terms, that is, 
chorea, St. Vitus’s dance; and I mention this, which is, perhaps, 
far fetched, because the disease in some instances has a consi¬ 
derable resemblance, of which I shall give an example :—On the 
12th August, 1829, a brown gelding, belonging to Mr. Wilson 
Jardiner, King’s Park, Holyrood, was brought to me affected 
with a peculiar stiffness” (as the driver expressed it), and with 
a trembling spasmodic action of the muscles of all the limbs, 
which was more particularly observable on the animal being put 
in motion after having stood in a settled position for a short time. 
The action of the hind legs resembled that of a horse much af¬ 
fected with stringhalt. The spasms of the muscles of the fore 
legs was also very distinct and curious, the extensor tendons start¬ 
ing out, as it were, from the bone, acting individually and irre¬ 
gularly by jerks, or remaining raised and in action for a few mi¬ 
nutes, or excited by the slightest disturbance which was given 
to the animal, producing at times such a degree of rigid extension, 
as to cause the animal to strike the toe upon the ground in 
moving. This was more especially the case with the off fore foot. 
The whole symptoms combined gave the animal somewhat the 
appearance of being attacked with tetanus; but the irregularity 
of the spasms and the motions of the animal approached more to 
the disease known in the human being as St. Vitus’s dance; it 
also closely resembled in several respects the disease, which, 
when a horse is affected with it, has led Mr. Sewell, I am in¬ 
formed, to denominate him “ a shiverer.” In this case, however, 
the symptoms were as well marked, when the animal was moved 
forwards, as when he was put backwards (the action by which 
the latter is at once detected), and which serves to distinguish 
it. He had been bad a week or ten days before I saw him, and 
had been bled ; his pulse forty-five ; feeding freely on grass, and 
oats and bran : the muscles of the eyes were not affected. He 
recovered in six weeks. But there is still another form of the 
chords, which puts on more the symptoms of a rheumatic affec¬ 
tion of the muscles of the neck and trunk, and which is accom¬ 
panied with derangement of the bowels, and a hidebound 
condition of the skin, and unthrifty state of the coat: the animal 
seems so sore, that he is even afraid of being touched with the 
finger. He is as “ stiff’ as a postand if not turned round 
slowly and cautiously, he groans with the pain occasioned by 
the movement: he is rpiite unable to reach the ground with his 
mouth, and would therefore starve at grass. I had a case of this 
kind about three months ago in a favourite old carriage horse 
belonging to a lady : he was attacked with the disease at grass, 
VOL. V. 4 II 
