472 
II. .TAMES. 
ttU k of colic, apparently neuralgic in character; such cases require 
very careful watching in an epizootic. Congestion of the retina 
as seen with the opihalmascope is one of the earliest , if not the first 
evidence of the disease. In from a few hours to four or five days 
the animal becomes comatose; but at any time during the ordi¬ 
nary course of the disease he may be easily aroused, though some¬ 
times becoming very much excited when disturbed. The somno¬ 
lence or apathy may persist throughout in some cases, but is more 
frequently alternated with delirium, which is sometimes so violent 
as to render it dangerous to approach the animal; such cases gen¬ 
erally die in a mad state. The pulse is not much altered, but 
usually weak and soft; in fact, the capillary circulation is some¬ 
times so slight as to lead to extensive sloughing of those parts 
that come in contact with the ground or slings; in acute cases the 
pulse is often extremely fast and irregular, but in the experience 
of most practitioners never “ wiry,” as stated by Lyman in “ Wil¬ 
liams I lactice. 4 he temperature in typical cases is about or 
below the normal, but in protracted cases a few hours before death, 
and in fulminant cases living only a few hours, we may find it run 
up to 105°; bed sores may cause a rise of l°,but excepting in the 
above condition a high figure usually points to lung complications. 
The bowels share in the prevailing torpor, and are usually inact¬ 
ive; retention of urine readily occurs from paralysis of the blad¬ 
der, haematuria may be present early and late in the disease, 
nearly pure venous blood being passed in some cases. Sexual 
excitement is nearly always present in mares or stallions; priap¬ 
ism has been noticed in the gelding. They frequently struggle 
violently in the slings, and sometimes your patient will astonish 
you by turning a complete summersault. Rudimentary forms, in 
which difficulty in deglutition and lumbar weakness are the most 
constant symptoms, occur on the outskirts of epizootics. Fatalitv 
is in ratio with the sudden or gradual development of the symp¬ 
toms; in cases which recover, the acute symptoms are over by 
the eighth or tenth day as a rule; death usually results from coma. 
Young and vigorous animals recover quickest, relapses are com¬ 
mon, and the practitioner should always be very careful in making 
a prognosis in horses past their prime. As the animal improves 
