SCIATICA. 
17 
park found that the animal affected was a seven-year-old pac¬ 
ing gelding, record 2.24^. 
I asked for and obtained the following history of the case 
from his owner. 
He had been started in his first race of the season at 
Bloomington, the first week in July ; next week was in a hard 
contested race at Springfield, after which he went a trifle 
lame in near hind leg. The next week he was in Decatur, but 
was not started ; from Decatur was shipped to Peoria, arriv¬ 
ing here on Sunday, July 19th. On Monday, Tuesday and 
Wednesday mornings he was jogged for a few miles on the 
track, but being still slightly lame his owner concluded to 
ship him home until fully recovered, but when they started 
to lead him to the shipping platform, they only got about 
three hundred yards from the stall, when he was taken so 
suddenly and violently lame and seemed to be in such agony 
that it was almost impossible to get him back to the stall, 
where I saw him about half an hour later, presenting the fol¬ 
lowing symptoms: His general appearance showed at a glance 
that he was suffering intense pain of a nervous character, 
there being nervous twitchings and slight clonic spasms of 
the muscles, holding the near hind leg clear of the floor, but 
continually moving it in a convulsive, jerky, nervous manner, 
nostrils dilated, breathing very much accelerated, pulse 85 
and weak, temperature 103°; body covered with perspiration. 
A close and careful examination of the foot and leg re¬ 
vealed nothing wrong, but on manipulating the hip and thigh 
the symptoms were very much aggravated, the poor animal 
groaning from pain on pressure being brought to bear on 
these parts and clonic spasms of the muscles being much more 
severe. 
1 gave potassium bromide 3 ss, and also morph, sulph. 
grs. iv. hypodermically, injected a five per cent, solution of 
cocaine into the muscles of hip and thigh, and ordered hot 
woolen blankets applied to the hip. 
On my return in about two hours I found him in about 
the same condition, suffering intensely, sweating profusely, 
but body cold. 
