244 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



this reason a careful examination, of the chest especially, should 

 always be made before making such an application. 



As the mouth becomes cooler and more moist, and the pulse softer 

 and less frequent, a more stimulating treatment is desirable. At lirst 

 two drachms each of gentian, powdered cinchona, niter and sal ammo- 

 niac, may be given night and morning, or if the debility is very great 

 the last-named agent may be replaced by four drachms of carbon- 

 ate of ammouia made into a bolus, with linseed meal, or dissolved in a 

 half pint of water, and repeated three or four times a day. In cases 

 marked by a daily remission, I have found a dose of 30 grains of sulph- 

 ate of quinia to prove effectual in preventing the paroxysm, if given an 

 hour or two before the period when it was in the habit of appearing. 



During convalescence gentian, cinchona, and other tonics, are de- 

 sirable, with alcoholic, ammoniacal, or other stimnlants, if there is much 

 debility or prostration. The diet should be tempting and nutritious, 

 supplied often, fresh and frequently varied, and care should be taken 

 at all times to counteract any sudden suppression of the secretions of 

 the bowels or kidneys, or even the nasal discharge. In this connection 

 I may mention the statement of Mr. Murray, of Detroit, that all the 

 cases of dropsy that came under his notice occurred in animals which 

 had taken for a few days " condition powders," consisting largely of 

 sulphate of iron, and had had the nasal discharge suddenly dried up. 

 Improvement followed promptly on the withholding of the x>owders and 

 soliciting the action of the kidneys and bowels. 



Should the prostration become extreme, stimulants must be resorted 

 to even more frequently than is recommended above 5 five, or even six 

 times a day. In some instances, however, the system seems to lose all 

 power of reaction, and almost the only remaining hope lies in the trans- 

 fusion of blood from the veins of a healthy animal to those of the sick. 

 The blood may be obtained from a healthy horse, or more conveniently 

 from oxen or sheep intended for slaughter. It may be transferred 

 through an elastic tube without exposure to the air, or it may be drawn 

 off into a vessel and thence transferred to the veins of the sick horse, 

 unchanged or defibrinated. 



The first-named mode, which was practiced by the late Mr. Parral, of 

 Dublin, is in many respects the most convenient. The operator must 

 furnish himself with a caoutchouc tube about a yard and a half long, 

 and with a silver tube four inches long, and a third of an inch in diame- 

 ter, fitted into each end. The jugular veins of the two animals are now 

 opened with fleam or lancet, the pressure being maintained below the 

 orifice so as to obviate the entrance of air into the vein and to facilitate 

 the introduction of the tube. The tube having been filled with tepid 

 water, is now inserted from below upward toward the head into the jug- 

 ular of the sound animal, and from above downward, toward the chest 

 into the jugular of the sick. The middle of the tube is passed through 

 a vessel containing water at the temperature of the animal body. The 

 tube, hitherto compressed between the finger and thumb, is now relaxed 

 and the blood is allowed to flow slowly into the system of the patient. 

 Any indication of nausea or vertigo, turning up of the upper lip, jerking 

 upward of the head, or unsteadiness of the limbs, is to be accepted as a 

 warning, and the current of blood must be stopped or reduced until the 

 animal has rallied. After a suflBcient amount appears to have been 

 transferred, the tube is withdrawn and the wounds pinned up as after 

 ordinary bleeding. About three quarts will usually be lx)rne, and the 

 results will be seen in increased firmness and fullness of the pulse, and a 

 more healthy hue of the mucous membranes. 



