REPORTS OF CASES. 
429 
REPORTS OF CASES. 
‘ ‘ Careful observation makes a skillful 'practitioner , but his skill dies with him. 
By recording his observations he adds to the knowledge of his profession , and assists 
by his facts in building up the solid edifice of pathological science .”— Veterinary 
Record. 
BROKEN NECK IN A MARE ENDING DIRECTLY IN RECOVERY 
AND INDIRECTLY IN DEATH. 
By George N. Kinnell, M.R.C.V.S., Pittsfield, Mass. 
The subject of this communication was a valuable trotting 
bred mare, and at the time of her accident was kept along 
with another mare in a paddock which had been specially 
•fenced and arranged for their safety. During a thunder¬ 
storm, on the night of the 20th of last June, both mares ran 
bang head foremost against the fence. One mare had a few 
slight cuts and scratches about the head, while the subject of 
this communication appeared to have got off scot free. 
During the following day, however, she was noticed dull and 
stupid ; and in the evening of the 21st my attention was called 
to her. Her pulse and temperature did not indicate anything 
seriously out of the wav, but she had a peculiar indescribable 
look such as we see in a horse a few hours after having had a 
fit. Her head was carried just a trifle lower than natural, 
and her neck had an almost imperceptibly flattened look on 
the top. I was of the opinion she had received an electric 
shock, prescribed quiet and low diet, meaning to examine her 
further next morning. 
At 5 A.M. on the morning of the 22d, I was called to see 
her and found a state of things which surprised me. The 
mare was drenched in sweat, the muscles of her entire body 
in a state of violent spasm, she was staggering around and 
across the box-stall, bumping violently against the walls and 
altogether behaving in a manner which made it highly 
dangerous to go near her. Her head was twisted to the off 
side and at the level of the second and third cervical vertebras, 
the neck was acutely bent, there being a big bulging elbow on 
the left side and a corresponding hollow on the right. 
