URTICARIA. 125 



still purges a little. And now the lumps, both large and 

 small, are all but gone : only slight elevations in their places 

 can be perceived." 



Mr Percivall also quotes Hurtrel D'Arboval, who evidently 

 speaks of urticaria as partial and general. He says : 



"In the first, the lumps are few, diffused, and isolated, 

 nowise affect the health of the animal, though at times they 

 occasion itching. They last fifteen days or three weeks, 

 sometimes much longer. They disappear by resolution, 

 without leaving marks of their existence. They do not 

 always vanish in this way : now and then they become con- 

 verted into abscesses, which burst, discharge a serous fluid, 

 and become crusted over. 



" In the second variety, the lumps arise at once, and upon 

 almost every part of the body. They are unequal : some are 

 small, some large. All of them are flattened, and disposed 

 in groups, presenting often little vesicles, from which issues a 

 glutinous fluid. The animal's health is disturbed. The 

 appetite is impaired; the skin warmer than usual; the visible 

 membranes flushed: respiration accelerated; pulse full and 

 hard. Eruption, attended with itching and fever, may turn 

 out serious, through metastasis, as frequently happens in 

 young horses that, during the previous winter, have suffered 

 from hard work and poor living. The most common metas- 

 tasis is that of the air-passages ; and it is one likely to ensue 

 when the eruption suddenly disappears." 



Although in many cases the disease is of a very transient 

 character, it is sometimes associated with febrile symptoms, 

 and calls for rather energetic treatment. This consists in 

 free purgation, low diet, and washing the skin over for two 

 or three days. Hot-air baths are likely to afford speedy 

 relief in such cases, and the symptoms are sometimes severe 

 enough to make us desire a prompt remedy. 



