The Republican., 1900-09-27
HORSES INSANE FROM HEAT.
Strange Antics Performed Il by the An
finals when Overcope by the
Suns Rays.

One of the effects of hot weather
which has been especially noticeable
of late, according to veterinarians, has
been the increase of insanity among
horses. Insanity among horses?"
one is inclined to ask, iDcredulously,
but the veterinarians declare that one
of the many things about "horse doc
toring' that the general public does
not know is that horses, like men,
often go insane, and do unaccountably
strange things, says the Chicago Trib-
une.
One day horse belonging to an ice
cream company in South Chicago went
violently insane while attached to
wagon. 1t was a frightfully hot day,
and the horse had been driven hard.
1t was standing still. when suddenly,
without warning, it went charging
down the street full tilt, swinging the
wagon from side to side. and finally
wrecking it and running until ex-
hausted
That is not an unusual case" said
DIR. Matthew H. McKillip. Horses
frequently go mad from heat The
really strange cases are those in which
horse goes crazy from some organic
trouble. In that they are like men.
L had horse brought to me not a
week ago for examination which was
typical of certain form of the
trouble. The poor beast belonged to
a prominent South side family which
had recently bought him. The owner
complained to me that it took the
horse an hour to go a block
watched it travel. and recognized the
trouble at once. 1t was simply de-
mented. Instead of trotting straight
ahead it rocked up and down like a
rocking horse at sort of cumbrous
gallop, frdly making any progress,
and seeming not to understand any4
thing that was said to it. I was as
sured that not long before the horse
had been a willing worker. and had
had considerable speed. Yet when I
saw it it would not trot nor walk. but
just rocked along. | told the owner
at once that the horse was crazy and
could not be cured, but that did not
convince him. He had an idea that if
the horse were worked hard enough
it would get well, so he sent it out sew
eral miles one day and worked it hard
the next. and within an hour after it
got back to its stable the horse died.
"A horse is not just like man in
the way it goes crazy. The animal
lacks the reasoning faculty. and, as a
result when its brain becomes de-
ranged it lacks the strange manifesta-
.tions that are due to a crooked opera
tion of reason in man. The actions of
the horse are largely habitual, and
when the insanity comes on it is mani
Tested through a arrangement of hab-
it. | had case not long ago in which
horse which had been a good driver
and worker for many years suddenly
desired to walk sideways 1t was liza
bic to stop anywhere and sidestep. or
even to refuse to go ahead altogether
and just step out to one side. I
studied it closely and found that the
poor brute was undoubtedly out of its
head. Another case I knew was one
in which the horse would turn to the
left unless the right rein was held
hard. 1t could only be driven by hold
ing that rein by main strength all
the time. 1t gradually got worse, and
at last the horse had to be killed.
Sometimes insanity in horses takes
the violent form. somewhat like that
Of the horse in South Chicago. A
horse has become harder and harder
to drive. will take the bit in its teeth
and charge straight ahead through
everything. and have to be seriously
| injured or entirely exhausted before
it can be brought to a standstill,
when horse has gone crazy
| through organic change, it is. | be-
| lieve, incurable. Still. the animal is
not then necessarily useless. Mares
have been used for breeding purposes
| when it was well known that they
were insane. Their colts were all
| right. though the dams were not. In
| insanity which develops from heat
and which is due to Inflammation the
| horse often gets well. Cases of each
sort are not uncommon. | have per.
haps one a month brought to my at
| tention, and there must be many more
| in the city"
Not only horses but other animals as
well are at times victims of insanity
and even when in a wild state. Mad
wild animals have many times been
| known to terrorize communities and
to escape hunters for long time ow.
ing to their absolute departure from
the customs of their kind.