STRAMONIUM 
ness of the part, and by difficulty in bringing 
forward the hind leg; and as it is commonly 
deep seated, it must be attacked by blistering.— 
A strain of the knee is generally complicated with 
other injuries of the part, and may require in 
addition to the common remedies for strains, the 
application of a large poultice by means of a 
stocking or a flannel bag. See the article 
Broken Kyuus.—A strain of the fetlock joint 
usually arises from some sudden and violent 
exertion, as in leaping, and is sometimes accom- 
panied by displacement of the sesamoid bones ; 
and must be attacked by bleeding, physic, and 
poultices. See the article Frernock.—A strain 
of the coffin joint is indicated by the horse’s 
being able to walk soundly while he is very lame 
in a trot, and by great heat in the foot, extend- 
ing to the pastern, and sometimes accompanied 
by swelling round the coronet; and it requires 
the shoe to be removed, the sole pared thin, and 
the whole foot, after taking a considerable quan- 
tity of blood from the toe, to be wrapped in a 
large poultice; and if it be very bad or obstinate, 
it may require also the blistering of the pastern. 
Cattle, or even working oxen, are vastly less 
subject to strains than horses, and do not re- 
quire to have them treated with the same se- 
dulousness and nicety. Any ordinary recent 
strain in cattle may generally be cured by fre- 
quent fomentations with warm water, and fre- 
quent bathings with a mildly stimulating em- 
brocation ; a severe one may require to be 
treated also with bleeding and physicking; anda 
| very deep-seated one must be attacked with a 
free-rubbing in, every morning and evening, of a 
powerfully stimulating embrocation, such as one 
consisting mainly of olive oil and spirit of turpen- 
tine, and containing some oil of origanum and 
some cantharides. A strengthening plaster, in 
the form of a charge, may also be useful, An 
ordinary strain in the fetlock of the ox may be 
reduced by a diligent alternate use of a mild and 
of a powerful embrocation; but a bad one may 
require blistering or even the cautery ; and if it 
be very stubborn, and involve considerable lame- 
ness, the nerve which comes down to the foot 
from above the fetlock may be divided so as to 
destroy sensation. 
Strains sometimes, though not often, occur in 
the fetlock-joint of sheep; and must be treated 
with rest, fomentation, and poultices; and, if 
they be very bad, they may also require either a 
strongly-stimulating application or a mild blis- 
ter. 
STRAMONIUM,—botanically Datura Stramo- 
nium. <A hardy, medicinal, annual plant, of the 
thorn-apple genus and nightshade order. It is 
a native of America, but has become naturalized 
in England, and occurs wild on rubbish and 
dunghills and by the sides of roads in the vi- 
cinity of London and in other places. Its stem 
is cylindrical, leafy, branching, spreading, and 
about two feet high; its leaves stand on long, 
STRANGLES. 349 
cylindrical footstalks springing from the forks of 
the stem, and are large, triangularly ovate, sin- 
uated, dark-green above, and pale below; its 
flowers stand on short erect footstalks, and are 
axillary, solitary, and large, and havea white fun- 
nel-shaped corolla, and bloom in July and August ; 
and its fruit are large, ovate-roundish, four-cor- 
nered, fleshy capsules, armed with sharp, awl- 
shaped spines, and containing eacha great number 
of compressed kidney-shaped seeds. The whole 
herb has a fetid narcotic odour, and a nauseous 
bitterish taste ; and possesses stimulant and nar- 
cotic properties. The root, the leaves, the seeds, 
the capsules, the whole herb in a dried state, and 
the inspissated expressed juice of the leaves are 
variously used in medicine. But both the fresh 
plant itself and some of the herbal and pharma- 
ceutical preparations of it act with great po- 
tency, and have been known to produce convul- 
sions, dreadful delirium, paralysis, and death, 
and ought never to be used except according to 
the prescription of a regular physician. An 
analysis of the plant by Promnitz found 58 parts 
in 178 to be gummy extractive, 6 extractive, 64 
chlorophylle, 15 albumen, 12 resin, and 23 phos- 
phate of lime and magnesia. A peculiar prin- 
ciple called daturine exists in the seeds in the 
form of a malate ; and, when separated, crystal- 
lizes with difficulty, yet has been obtained in 
quadrangular crystals; and it combines with 
acids to form neutral salts, and is nearly insolu- 
ble in water. 
STRANGLES. A disease of young horses. It 
generally attacks them in their fourth or fifth 
year; and is regarded by some veterinarians as 
a specific or constitutional disease which every 
young horse is liable to have once, and which no 
horse has twice. It commences with swelling 
under the jaws, cough, dulness of the eyes, and 
some degree of fever; it passes into semipuru- 
lent discharge from the nostrils, soreness of 
throat, increased swelling, eventual suppuration, 
and disinclination or inability to drink or to 
take more than a very little food; and it some- 
times becomes so violent and spreading as to 
prevent swallowing, to threaten suffocation, and 
to set up inflammation in the lungs, accompanied 
with very hurried breathing. Many colts at 
grass get through the disorder without assist- 
ance from man; yet even colts which are least 
seriously affected ought by all means to be as- 
sisted, and those who are most seriously affected 
may require the utmost efforts which veterinary 
skill and sedulous care can make. Constant fo- 
mentation, or the application of large poultices, 
or the appending of steaming mashes to the head, 
accompanied with stimulation or blistering of 
the jaw, ought to be practised till the tumour 
‘points’ and ripens; and then the suppuration 
should be let out at the point, and a pledget of 
tow introduced to keep the abscess open for a 
few days, and the horse allowed only green food, 
and led occasionally into gentle walking exercise ; 
