STUDY OF SPINAL CORD OF SPRING-HALT HORSE. 
693 . 
appear, and finally the medullary sheath, leaving an unstained 
gap in the section. A section was allowed to remain in nig. 
rosin for twelve hours, and no stain of these areas was effected. 
These unstained areas can easily be seen without a glass, and 
was first noticed on an unstained section from which the alco¬ 
hol was allowed to evaporate. 
The results of the examination of sections taken from the 
gangliaof the fourth, fifth, and sixth pairs of spinal nerves are 
perhaps more interesting still. The ganglia were sectioned 
at intervals of one-eighth of an inch, and the order of these 
sections carefully maintained. The same methods for stain¬ 
ing were used for these as for the sections from the cord. 
The most peripheral section of one ganglion showed that a 
single funiculus in the motor region had undergone complete 
degeneration. Proceeding toward the cord the successive 
sections showed that this funiculus became gradually broken 
up and distributed throughout the whole motor area of the 
section, for the degenerated fibres were found scattered in 
every part of the motor area. Although the disturbance in 
the cord was mostly confined to the sensory area, it is the 
motor fibres in the nerves that have suffered decay. No very 
careful and detailed study of the blood-vessels has been made, 
so that it cannot be definitely stated whether or not the lesion 
has resulted from a lack of blood supply. It is not deemed 
expedient to attempt to argue the consistency of a sensory 
degeneration in the cord and a motor degeneration in the 
spinal nerves. It is my purpose simply to state what appear 
to be the facts in regard to the condition of this cord. We 
have simply a coincidence: a horse is afflicted in a high de¬ 
gree with spring-halt, and a lesion has been found in the sen¬ 
sory areas of the cord and in the motor areas of certain nerves 
which control the hind limbs. Some veterinary surgeons 
have long supposed a central origin for the disease, or at least 
that the disease was nervous. The disease has resisted up to 
the present time all attempts at a cure, and the sale of a horse 
is greatly injured when it is known to be afflicted with spring¬ 
halt. As a means of getting a better understanding of the 
symptoms of spring-halt, I would suggest a careful study of 
