140 Glanders, 



ulcers. It did not occur to this gentleman, that, even if his no- 

 tion of (he prejudicial effjects of the air^ on the ulcers in the nostrils, 

 |jad been correct, the proposed operation must, if at all, have 

 ansvv'ered the purpose he had in view, very imperfectly at best. For, 

 as long aa the parts, above the artificial opening in the windpipe, 

 retained their natural heat, so long, a fresh current of cool air, would 

 continue to rush in, and displace that portion, which had become 

 hotter than the external atmosphere. 



Now, the reason why air that is cool and pure, acts so beneficially 

 on Glandered Horses, is, not on account of its being merely a pro- 

 per local application to the ulcers in the nostrils, by being free from 

 the stimuli of heat and volatile Alkali, which do most unquestionably 

 serve to keep up the irritation in the membrane of the nose, but, in 

 consequence of its healthy restorative effects on the general frame 

 and constitution, and thus, from the same cause, becoming, (what 

 the air of stables under the present system of management never 

 can become) the natural, healthy pabulum of life, to the diseased 

 animal. And as the ulceration in the nostrils, is a mere local symp- 

 tom of a constitutional disease, we must amend or alter the consti- 

 tution, before we can restore the healthy condition, of the mem- 

 brane of the nose. But, the exact mode in which pure air acts, in 

 producing this healthy change in the blood, or on the living fibre, 

 (or perhaps on both) as it comes not properly within the scope, of 

 a practical work of this kind, to explain, I shall not attempt to discuss. 

 It might not, perhaps, be very difficult to frame an hypothesis to 

 suit the occasion, but, as such an attempt would necessarily involve 

 me, in a labyrinth of both chemical and physiological disquisition, 

 whic|i would prove in no degree satisfactory to the general reader. 



