552 
A. LARGE. 
fluid may perhaps pass down the trachea to the bronchial tubes and 
produce death by suffocation. If fluid medicine is administered, 
it must be of a clear nature and but little in quantity. There are 
other methods of administering medicines, such as by the rectum, 
or the hypodermic method; but when suddenly called away from 
home, we have not always these facilities for administration. 
The next questions are, “ What medicines should be adminis¬ 
tered? What is the course of treatment to be adopted! As we 
have inflammation of a very important and grave character to deal 
with, all our treatment must be brought to bear upon it, to subdue 
it, if possible, or endeavor if we can to diminish its intensity, to 
limit it to a part of the spinal tract, and prevent it spreading to 
others. If when the surgeon is called, he finds the patients down, 
prostrated, or that they have lost for some little time previously 
all power of deglutition, he will find it almost useless to attempt 
treatment; but should the animal not be prostrated, and should it 
be able to swallow food, or a bolus, though it cannot swallow 
water, the prognosis is more favorable, and treatment should be 
undertaken and persevered in while there is a reasonable hope of 
recovery. 
Blood-letting is a powerful antiphlogistic agent, but in the large 
majority of these cases there are no indications by the pulse foi 
its use; it must therefore be dispensed with. We must resort to 
cathartics, such as aloes, as the depletive agent, and besides make 
use of those sedatives whose action is directed principally to the 
nervous system and that exercise an influence on the capillary 
vessels and limit the supply of blood going through them to a part. 
The agents we have used for this purpose are tinct. of aconite, 
and ext. of belladonna, alternately; commencing their adminis¬ 
tration soon after 'giving the cathartic, not waiting for its action, 
as time is very precious ; in fact, we frequently combine the seda¬ 
tive with the cathartic, as follows: from 3 h to H* ext. of 
belladonna with a full dose of aloes, for an adult horse; then ad¬ 
minister tincture of aconite root, f 3 ss., in half a tumblei of 
water every three hours; or alternating every other dose with a 
medium dose of the extract. This is the course of treatment fol¬ 
lowed by us for several years, and in the cases where recovery took 
