200 THE HORSE. 



been known ^o be distended with air, but there are no characteristic symp- 

 toms by which this may be distinguished from distension by food, and the 

 treatment would be the same. 



Of inflammation of the stomach in the horse, except from poisonous 

 herbs or drugs, we know little. It very rarely occurs, and then can with 

 difficulty be distinguished from inflammation of the bowels, and in both 

 diseases the assistance of a skilful veterinary surgeon is required. 



Few horses are destroyed by the poisonous plants in our meadows. 

 Natural instinct teaches them to avoid those which would be injurious. 

 More are destroyed by the leaves of the yew than by any other vegetable 

 poison. A sleepiness, from which the animal can scarcely be roused, steals 

 over him, and he dies without any symptom of pain. 



Ten grains of the farina of the croton-nut should be given as soon as the 

 poisoning is suspected ; he should be drenched largely with equal parts of 

 vinegar and thin gruel, and the croton repeated in six hours, if it has not 

 previously operated. 



The Water Droptvort, common in ditches and marshy places, is generally 

 refused by horses ; but brood-mares, with appetite somewhat vitiated from 

 being in foal, have been destroyed by it. The antidote would be vinegar 

 and gruel, and bleeding, if there be inflammation. 



The Water Parsley deserves not all the bad reputation it has acquired, 

 although, when eaten in too great quantities, it has produced palsy in the 

 horse, and which has been strangely attributed to a harmless beetle that 

 inhabits the stem. 



Of the Common Hemlock and the Water Hemlock we know no harm, so 

 far as the horse is concerned. We have repeatedly seen him eat the latter 

 without bad effects, but cows have been poisoned by it. 



Of the mineral poisons we will mention only two. Arsenic was formerly 

 celebrated as a tonic and a destroyer of worms in the horse ; and doses suffi- 

 cient to kill three or four men used to be daily administered, and generally 

 with impunity ; the dose has, however, in some cases, been too strong, and 

 the animal has died. There are better tonics and vermifuges, and the drug 

 will probably soon be discarded from veterinary practice. Corrosive subli- 

 mate is given internally, and often with advantage in farcy. It is used 

 externally to destroy vermin, to cure mange, and dispose deep and fistulous 

 ulcers to heal. The symptoms of an overdose of either are loss of appetite, 

 discharge of saliva from the mouth, pawing, looking eagerly at the flanks, 

 rolling, profuse perspiration, thready pulse, rapid weakness, violent purging 

 and straining, convulsions, and death. 



The stomach will be found intensely inflamed, with patches of yet greater 

 inflammation. The whole course of the intestine will be inflamed, with 

 particular parts black and gangrenous. 



The antidote, if it be not too late to administer it, would be, for arsenic, 

 lime-water, or chalk and water, or soap and water, given in great quantities 

 with the stomach-pump; and for corrosive sublimate, the white of eggs, 

 mixed with water, or thick starch, or arrow-root. If the poisoning be mali- 

 cious, arsenic may be most readily detected by mixing a little of the fluid 

 taken from the intestines with a weak solution of blue viti'iol, to which a little 

 hartshorn has been added, the mixture will gradually become green; or, if 

 a little of the more solid contents of the stomach or small intestines be 

 thrown on a red-hot iron, a smell of garlic will be perceived. 



For corrosive sublimate, there is a simpler test. Place a drop of the sus- 

 pected fluid on a sovereign, let the stem of a small key touch tlie sovereign, 

 while the handle ia brought into contact with the drop, and the gold 



