126 
CORRESPONDENCE. 
trotter that had passed into the twenties without any loss of his 
former vim and spirit, and who showed more or less symptoms of 
fragilitis of the osseous system, I feared the risk of a fracture 
of the vertebra] column from casting, and therefore ordered his 
feed withheld, and at the expiration of thirty-six hours gave nine 
drachms of the chrystals of chloral hydrate in capsules. In an 
hour afterward it was with considerable difficulty, with one man 
at his head and one on each side, that he could be moved a dis¬ 
tance of twenty feet, where without restraint of any kind, the 
coronet of one hind foot was thoroughly fired, without any indi¬ 
cations of pain or even so much as lifting the foot from the floor. 
The operation consumed about twenty-five minutes, when he was 
returned to his stall, and in reaching up to the rack for hay, lost 
his balance and would have fallen but for the three men who were 
supporting him. He seemed comfortable and contented, and 
would eat hay when placed within his reach. The pulse, taken 
at that time, showed thirty, with soft respiration, and increased 
to twenty without labor, and, except the loss of voluntary muscu¬ 
lar action, he seemed to suffer no inconvenience. Being pressed 
for time, we did not wait to see how the case would terminate, but 
instructed the groom to keep a watch upon him until the effects 
of the drug had passed off. Upon calling the next day, we found 
him comfortable, and were informed by the groom that the intox¬ 
ication began to pass off in an hour after our departure, and in 
one hour afterward he showed no signs of the ordeal through 
which he had so recently passed. 
No. 2 was a valuable eighteen-months-old Alderney bull, who 
in fighting with another animal sustained a fracture of the infe¬ 
rior third of the tibia. The owner being desirous of saving him, 
if possible, we endeavored to apply a cast, but owing to his ex¬ 
treme restlessness failed to do the work satisfactorily. We ac¬ 
cordingly administered seven drachms of chloral hydrate, and 
in twenty-five minutes he was stretched out, and except for his 
stertorous breathing, one would suppose lifeless. We succeeded 
in the work to our entire satisfaction. It occupied about thirty 
minutes. We waited another half hour, when he raised his head, 
looked around and began to eat some hay that lay within his 
