Diagnosis— Discrimination of Disease 



149 



his practice to the genus /10//10, has another 

 and a very important advantage — he is 

 directed to the exact location of the malady 

 by the sensations of his patient, which may 

 be communicated to him with the utmost 

 clearness. The veterinarian, on the other 

 hand, is obliged to obtain all his information 

 from the imperfect workings of some part or 

 parts of the animal machine ; he cannot even 

 believe what the owner or keeper chooses to 

 teU him, for he is so often wilfully deceived 

 by these individuals, who desire to test his 

 shrewdness or knowledge. 



It is then of the greatest importance to 

 know the position, the function, and the 

 appearance of each organ in health, as well 

 as their combined action when the organism 

 is considered as a whole ; more than this, it 

 is necessary to be familiar with the modifica- 

 tions which disease brings to each organ, and 

 through it, by sympathy, to the other parts of 

 the body. It is here that quacks and charla- 

 tans of every description find their , greatest 

 stumbling-block; knowing nothing of anatomy 

 or jDhysiology, they can never understand 

 either the nature, the symptoms, or the cure 

 of disease. And this is one of the most im- 

 portant points for stock-owners to consider, 

 since they often employ men to doctor 

 their animals with the single recommendation 

 that they have passed their lives in a stable. 

 It must be remembered that it has taken 

 hundreds of years of the patient labour of 

 many men to gather, with the best facilities, the 

 information that we possess on the subject of 

 veterinary science ; and with all this at his 

 disposal, the educated, honest practitioner 

 will confess that he finds problems which are 

 difficult to solve. If, then, any man has the 

 assurance to ask for veterinary practice, simply 

 because he has spent a few years in a stable 

 and seen a few sick animals, he may be dis- 

 missed at once — he can do nothing but mis- 

 chief. A man, claiming to be a great physi- 

 cian because he had always lived with men, 

 and had taken care of them in health and 

 disease, would at once be seen to place him- 

 self in a very absurd position, and would be 

 looked upon with deserved contempt ; but 

 unfortunately people have not yet come to 



look upon veterinary charlatans in this light, 

 and the unreasonableness of their claims is 

 not reahzed. 



In attempting to diagnose a disease, it is 

 customary to first take a rapid glance at the 

 general appearance of the animal, and then 

 examine the different apparatus separately. 

 With the first glance, one will perceive the 

 expression of the face, the position of the 

 head and legs, the excitability or stupor, the 

 fatness or emaciation, and the peculiarities of 

 the gait. Then the skin will be noticed in 

 regard to its colour, its tension, the state of 

 its secretions, its temperature, the wounds of 

 cicatrices that may be found, the swellings or 

 distension of any parts of it, the character of 

 the hair or wool, and with the horse, the ex- 

 ploration of the space between the branches 

 of the lower jaw. The attention will now be 

 turned to the respiratory apparatus, and the 

 colour, temperature, secretion, swellings, &c., 

 of the nasal mucous membrane noted ; next 

 the larnyx and trachea will be examined, and 

 the apparatus considered as finished after per- 

 cussing and auscultating the lungs, regarding 

 the characters of the respiratory movements, 

 the cough and nasal discharge (if any.) 



The circulatory apparatus may be taken as 

 next in order, and a knovv'ledge of its state 

 obtained by auscultating and percussing the 

 heart, and by noting the frequency and other 

 characters of the pulse. Then the digestive 

 api)aratus, in which we include the condition 

 of the mouth, teeth, tongue, and pharynx, 

 the manner in which the food and drink are 

 taken, the appetite, thirst and digestion as 

 well as the size, movements, tension, sensi- 

 bility, &c., of the abdomen, and the frequency, 

 quantity and quality of the excretions. After 

 this the urinary and sexual apparatus may be 

 examined, noting particularly the sensibility 

 of the loins, the colour, quantity and quality 

 of the urine, the presence of albumen, &c. 

 And lastly, the nervous system and organs of 

 sense appear for consideration; here the 

 attitude, excitability, muscular contractions, 

 paralysis and pain are the most apparent 

 symptoms; the mucous membrane and other 

 parts of the eye should not be forgotten. 



Of course this order of succession is not 



