278 
G. W. BUTLER. 
forenoon, when the horse exhibited the following symptoms: 
Pulse 52 per minute, temperature 101 F., pupils dilated, 
visible mucous membranes congested, abdomen gaunt; would 
strain often and violently and at each time eject a little dark 
colored urine; passed a small quantity of fasces quite often; 
examination per rectum revealed the bladder empty and con¬ 
tracted so that it felt like a small hard ball between the fingers. 
The horse would snap and bite at hens that happened to come 
near him, and any noise apparently induced a considerable de¬ 
gree of excitement, when the breathing would become hurried 
and parts of the body wet with perspiration. If one chanced 
to cough or spit near the horse, he would strike out with the 
fore foot; the manner in which the act was performed, how¬ 
ever, indicated that there was no desire on the animal’s part 
to injure the offender, as the foot was raised and lowered in a 
moment of excitement and the blow did not seem to be 
directed at any particular object. At times abdominal pains 
seemed severe in the extreme, and when we attempted to ad¬ 
minister a drench, contraction of the muscular system was so 
great that the horse could not stand, and fell down. These 
spasms were clonic in nature, for as soon as the horse was 
left alone he would become comparatively quiet and partake 
of food and water but seemed to have some difficulty in swal¬ 
lowing. The period of quietude between paroxysms varied 
as the disease advanced, becoming shorter all the time, and 
the spasms also grew more severe as death approached. The 
horse became very excitable before death and died a few 
hours after I first saw him. 
Autopsy next morning.—Abdomen greatly distended with 
gas; stomach in addition to a quantity of food, contained 
quite a number of bots, but otherwise looked healthy ; small 
intestines inflamed in places; mucous membrane of large 
colon and csecum contained a great number of small worms 
(strongylus tetracanthus) and was thickened and inflamed. 
Thousands of small worms, nearly white and from one quarter 
to one inch in length, were free in a portion of the large 
colon. 
The mucous membrane of the larynx, pharynx and trachea 
