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Cerebro-Spinal Meningitis?
The Veterinary :Journal. CEREBRO-SPINAL ME:\'INGITIS? DY C. CLAYTON, 1\I.R. C.V.S., FIRST CLASS, A.V.D., INDIA.
I OBS ERVE that Professor Axe has delivered a lecture upon the above-named disease, which is apparently new to England. Permit me to make a few remarks upon the same. I am at present away from the battery record books, or would give fuller details. Other veterinary surgeons more favourably situated, may supp ly fuller information on a disease which up to this I, with other members of the department, have generally classed among the rheumatismal affections. One distinguished member of the profession has lately assured me that the articular surfaces are invariably the seat of extensive ulceration or destruction of tissue. More complete observations may throw some light on this point. Eight cases of the disease came under my notice at Meerutduringthe month of August, r8 81, the monsoon being at its height about that period ; one terminated fatally. I heard on good authority that several cases were registered at U mballa, nearly all of which were complicated with articular affections. I am unable to assign a ny cause whatever; the cases appeared about th e same time, without being in the same battery or in the same lines. The quality and quantity of grain or forage did not vary; all the animals were exposed to the same temperature, winds, barometrical changes,-in one word, to the same influences· Neither sex nor age produced any difference. All, without exception, presented that rounded back, that di ffi culty of locomotion, that peculiar gait to be seen in horses suffering from Laminitis. When feedin g, and after having secured a certain quantity of forage b etween their lips, the anim als endeavoured to nip it, more or less general twitching of the muscles ensued ; noises made near or around the patients excited them ; in this respect they resembled animals I have seen suffering from Rabi es . It was with the greatest difficulty they could be got from their stalls to the sick-box es. Their gait was uncertain and unsteady. If one limb, or a portion of the same, was moved even when the animal was " en place," a dry crackling sound was distinctly heard ; sufficient in itself, said to me one member of our profession, "to enable me to diagnose the disease."
Cerebro-Spinal Men£ngitis.
25
In all cases petechial spots were present on the visible mucous membranes. The temperature rose to 104°, never higher. The case that terminated fatally lasted but a few hours, death being caused by the violent injuri es produced during the patient's struggles: thes e latter were such as to render approach most dangerous, and treatment impossible. I m ade a post-mortem examination, but all the parts were so contused and congested that no conclusion could b e arrived at. The organs contained in the thorax and abdomen were apparently quite healthy. The treatment consisted in the liberal administration of Potass. iod. thrice daily, of 01. lini. as required, of enemas, and Potass· nit. in water, of which a liberal supply was placed at the patient's disposal. Great attention was paid to the state of the bowels, the laxative above mentioned bein g freely used. The extremities were kept well hand-rubbed, and the b ody sponged twenty or thirty times daily with a mixture of vinegar and water. I may add, that although the temperature rose to 104", and the disease lasted from five to eight days, th e patients did not fall away visibly in condition. I hope these few notes will lead some other members of the profess ion to give their experience of the same disease.
Q?lfitnrial. VETERINARY NOMENCLATURE. great advance which has been made in general and speci:1l pathology in recent times, has necessitated not only a revision of medical and surgical nomenclature, but has compelled the introduction and adoption of a great number of new terms to designate conditions or states which previously were not known. In this way the nomenclature of medical science has been immensely increased and improved. As is weli known, technical medical terms are nearly, if not always, derived from Greek or Latin, as these languages are understood more or less by all educated scientists over the world, while modern languages are not. Consequently, medical terms derived from the two classical languages j ust named are readily comprehended by practitioners or professors of medical science everywhere. Scientific veterinary nomenclature has been borrowed from the sister THE
I OBS ERVE that Professor Axe has delivered a lecture upon the above-named disease, which is apparently new to England. Permit me to make a few remarks upon the same. I am at present away from the battery record books, or would give fuller details. Other veterinary surgeons more favourably situated, may supp ly fuller information on a disease which up to this I, with other members of the department, have generally classed among the rheumatismal affections. One distinguished member of the profession has lately assured me that the articular surfaces are invariably the seat of extensive ulceration or destruction of tissue. More complete observations may throw some light on this point. Eight cases of the disease came under my notice at Meerutduringthe month of August, r8 81, the monsoon being at its height about that period ; one terminated fatally. I heard on good authority that several cases were registered at U mballa, nearly all of which were complicated with articular affections. I am unable to assign a ny cause whatever; the cases appeared about th e same time, without being in the same battery or in the same lines. The quality and quantity of grain or forage did not vary; all the animals were exposed to the same temperature, winds, barometrical changes,-in one word, to the same influences· Neither sex nor age produced any difference. All, without exception, presented that rounded back, that di ffi culty of locomotion, that peculiar gait to be seen in horses suffering from Laminitis. When feedin g, and after having secured a certain quantity of forage b etween their lips, the anim als endeavoured to nip it, more or less general twitching of the muscles ensued ; noises made near or around the patients excited them ; in this respect they resembled animals I have seen suffering from Rabi es . It was with the greatest difficulty they could be got from their stalls to the sick-box es. Their gait was uncertain and unsteady. If one limb, or a portion of the same, was moved even when the animal was " en place," a dry crackling sound was distinctly heard ; sufficient in itself, said to me one member of our profession, "to enable me to diagnose the disease."
Cerebro-Spinal Men£ngitis.
25
In all cases petechial spots were present on the visible mucous membranes. The temperature rose to 104°, never higher. The case that terminated fatally lasted but a few hours, death being caused by the violent injuri es produced during the patient's struggles: thes e latter were such as to render approach most dangerous, and treatment impossible. I m ade a post-mortem examination, but all the parts were so contused and congested that no conclusion could b e arrived at. The organs contained in the thorax and abdomen were apparently quite healthy. The treatment consisted in the liberal administration of Potass. iod. thrice daily, of 01. lini. as required, of enemas, and Potass· nit. in water, of which a liberal supply was placed at the patient's disposal. Great attention was paid to the state of the bowels, the laxative above mentioned bein g freely used. The extremities were kept well hand-rubbed, and the b ody sponged twenty or thirty times daily with a mixture of vinegar and water. I may add, that although the temperature rose to 104", and the disease lasted from five to eight days, th e patients did not fall away visibly in condition. I hope these few notes will lead some other members of the profess ion to give their experience of the same disease.
Q?lfitnrial. VETERINARY NOMENCLATURE. great advance which has been made in general and speci:1l pathology in recent times, has necessitated not only a revision of medical and surgical nomenclature, but has compelled the introduction and adoption of a great number of new terms to designate conditions or states which previously were not known. In this way the nomenclature of medical science has been immensely increased and improved. As is weli known, technical medical terms are nearly, if not always, derived from Greek or Latin, as these languages are understood more or less by all educated scientists over the world, while modern languages are not. Consequently, medical terms derived from the two classical languages j ust named are readily comprehended by practitioners or professors of medical science everywhere. Scientific veterinary nomenclature has been borrowed from the sister THE