34° Journal of Agriculture. [8 June, 1908. 



would appear to be not so much due tO' the irritation of the skin by cold 

 as to the retention of injurious substances in the body under the influence 

 of cold which would otherwise be eliminated by the skin or excretory 

 organs. 



Treatment. — A laxative saline drench should be given and usually 

 this is all the treatment required. If the irritability of the skin is excessive 

 the prussic acid lotion recommended for itch may be given. 



Eczema. 



Excepting the conditions specially dealt with in this chapter all skin 

 affections of an inflammatory or irritative character may for practical pur- 

 poses be classed as eczemas. They are known under dift'erent common 

 names such as prickly heat, summer mange, blood boils, heat pimples, 

 dandruff, and they may be scientifically divided into lichen simplex, the 

 diffuse form of eczema when the pimples are scattered ; herpes when the 

 pimples appear in patches ; strophulus when the hair is shed and bare 

 patches of skin left ; psoriasis and pityriasis when the disease assumes a 

 chronic scaly condition. 



In Simple Eczema there is an eruption of small pea-like pimples on 

 the surface of the skin at any part but most commonly on the sides of the 

 neck or shoulders, the flank and inside the thighs, and at the root of 

 the tail. At first they are simply small hardish elevations but soon they 

 become filled with a watery fluid (serum) and form "vesicles." These may 

 either dry up or burst leaving a scaly scab which peels oft' in a few days. 

 Sometimes the vesicles become transformed into pustules containing matter 

 (pus) and ill-looking sores are formed while healing. 



Causes. — " The disease appears to be brought on by some influence 

 which interferes with healthy action of the skin such as checked perspira- 

 tion, errors in feeding, irritation from wearing woollen or dirty clothing 

 or from dirt being allowed to accumulate on the skin, want of grooming, 

 a heated state of the system, or by infection. In .some cases its cause 

 appears to be constitutional, in others local." (Hayes). The affection is 

 common at the change of the seasons, spring generally, and some horses 

 suffer year after year about the same season. 



Treatment. — Horses on hard feed should be changed to laxative diet 

 consisting of grass or other green feed and a daily bran mash with which 

 from two to four ounces of Epsom salts may be mixed. As a local appli- 

 cation a little glycerine may be applied or the olive oil and soda emulsion 

 previously recommended for "chafes." When pustular sores " form, 

 Tincture'of Creolin (creolin i part, methylated spirits 15 parts) forms an 

 effective dressing and it also has a marked effect in stimulating the growth 

 of hair. In obstmate cases arsenic in the form of Fowler's solution 

 (page 338) mav be given as a skin tonic and alterative powders containing 

 an ounce of Epsom salts and half an ounce of sulphur are also advan- 

 tageous. 



For eczema in the dog (in which animal the disease may vary from a 

 slight vesicular irritation to a condition of extensive suppuration or great 

 thickening and encrustation of the skin) internal treatment with Eowler's 

 solution of arsenic (5 to 10 drops per day in the drinking water) should be 

 accompanied by the application of zinc ointment in early cases or Iodide of 

 Sulphur ointment in confirmed and intractable cases. 



Scaly Eczema {psoriasis and pityriasis) is a chronic condition of the 

 skin characterized bv the formation and continuous peeling of dry 



