302 REPORT ON. THE DISEASES OF FARM HORSES. 



mystic art of getting his horse into prime condition ; for this 

 purpose savin, arsenic, calomel, and tartar emetic, &c, &c, are 

 used. !Not long ago, in Yorkshire, a horse was poisoned by 

 savin administered by the man who used the horse, and in the 

 county of Oxford five or six farm horses were poisoned by arsenic 

 foolishly given to the animals. 



Symptoms. — There is great uneasiness, the animal crouches 

 and lies frequently, turning his head round to the flank. There is 

 nausea, sometimes retching, comes on, and the pulse, although 

 strong at first, becomes quick and weak, irregular and indistinct. 

 Insatiable thirst occurs, and violent straining, with purging, 

 mostly ensues. Temperature of the body becomes unequal and 

 irregular, while patches of perspiration break out variously over 

 the body. The eyes are protruded, pupils dilated, and stupour 

 or unconsciousness shortly sets in ; urine high coloured and 

 deficient ; abdominal pain most intense, the animal either be- 

 coming paralytic or dying in agonising convulsions. 



The post mortem appearances are the only means of verifying 

 the true nature of the malady. There is an exudation present 

 between the coats of the stomach, causing that organ to be of 

 much greater thickness than ordinarily ; the ramifications of 

 blood vessels are distinctly reddened and delineated throughout 

 their course and distribution, being filled with blood ; spots or 

 patches called ecchymosis are present, and erosions, or removal 

 of the membrane, are present in places. Usually also traces of 

 the poison, if it be of a metallic nature, which has caused the 

 mischief, will be found on the internal coats adhering to it in 

 places. 



It would be impossible here to enter into the minutise of 

 treatment required in cases of gastritis, occasioned by irritant 

 poisons ; for dependent upon the drug which had been adminis- 

 tered must be the choice of certain agents or antidotes selected. 

 Much obviously depends upon this, and if, in the history of the 

 case, information relative thereto is withheld, or otherwise not 

 forthcoming, direct measures cannot be fully carried out. In 

 carnivora benefit can be obtained which is impossible in the 

 horse, by the natural act of vomition ; in the latter, articles 

 of a pernicious character remain in contact with tissues, carrying 

 on their work of destruction, while the poor creature suffers most 

 excruciating pain, unable to clear the stomach, and frequently 

 dying before medical aid can be obtained. 



Treatment must always be dependent on the following 

 provisions : — 



The causes of gastritis must be clearly ascertained before 

 measures can be properly directed, and before the poison can be 

 eliminated from the system, either by expulsion or neutralization 

 by antidotes. Bleeding may often be attended with great danger. 



