SOCIETY MEETINGS. 
873 
nary horsemen. What technical term would Dr. Merillat use 
to designate such a condition ? 
Dr. Merillat: I would call it “ stringhalt.” 
Dr. Hughes: In “ stringhalt,” there is a clean forward 
automatic movement, with exaggerated flexion. Where there 
is a jiindward muscular action, the animal swinging his legs 
spasmodically outwards^ I would regard it as chorea. The first 
condition is generally regarded as a local nervous one, the 
second as a disease in the great nerve centre. 
Dr. Merillat: If you wish to call all these little crampy 
conditions chorea, I have no objection. Chorea is a disease of 
a chronic course and we have no right to call these crampy con¬ 
ditions chorea, although I know that many authors class them 
as chorea, though they never fail to state that it is also string- 
halt. 
Dr. Ryan : As to locomotor ataxia, we often get conditions 
like that from digestive trouble. I think Dr Hughes’ suggestion 
to apply the term chorea to conditions as described above is a 
good one. We can safely use it. To say a horse has stringhalt 
or shivers would not be correct. We cannot expect a horse or 
dog to have a typical case of St. Vitus’ dance as exhibited in the 
human, and if the cases are similar, there should be no objec¬ 
tion to their being called chorea. 
Dr. Httglies : I would like if we could come to a decision in 
regard to this matter. Supposing I examine a horse and state 
that he has chorea, while another veterinarian would call it a 
crampy horse. This would cause a considerable amount of 
damage to a man’s reputation. Chorea, as a rule, gets worse 
with age ; hence every horse showing even the slightest symp¬ 
toms of it should be condemned.' 
Dr. Ryan : Is it not a poor way in cases of grunters caused 
by cirrhosis of the liver or enlargement of the heart to certify it 
being a grunter. Why not specify the cause? 
Dr. Merillat: It would be a happy condition if we could. 
Dr. Quitman : In regard to chorea of man and dog, I believe 
them to be identical. You will find in a dog affected with it 
that his foot will go first one way and then another. It is the 
same way with the human sufferer, if he, for instance, tries to put 
a spoon into his mouth. The similar conditions in the horse I 
would call choreic affections, which would imply that it 
resembles chorea. I had a case of a horse that had a cramp in 
one hind leg. I used all methods imaginable—used the whip, 
etc., but could not break the cramp. It existed ten days in one 
