706 TURKISH AND VAPOUR BATHS 



for man ; but the infirmaries of many veterinarians have 

 capital washrooms provided with steam, hot and cold water, 

 where horses and dogs are conveniently bathed, washed, 

 and dressed ; where chronic coughs, chills, rheumatism, 

 dyspepsia, and other ailments are hydropathically treated, 

 and where sprains and enlarged joints can be successfully 

 douched. 



Without expensive or special appliances, many of the 

 sanitary and curative advantages of baths can be secured 

 by sponging horses, as their condition or ailment suggests, 

 with tepid, hot, or cold water. Cleansing, tonic, or anti- 

 pyretic effects may thus be readily obtained. Irritating or 

 noxious matters are removed from the skin, circulation is 

 equalised, and excessive temperature reduced. In acute 

 febrile cases, whether in horses or cattle, the temperature 

 of the water used should not at first be lower than 85 

 or 80 Fahr. A little acetic acid may be advantageously 

 added. The sponging should not occupy more than three 

 or four minutes. The animal should be wisped dry and 

 immediately clothed. Within three or four hours the 

 operation, if necessary, may be repeated, especially if the 

 temperature reduced by the first sponging again rises. 

 After the first or second sponging water at 65 or 60 Fahr. 

 may be used. Concurrently with such treatment, anti- 

 septic salines or stimulants may be prescribed. In chorea, 

 especially in tolerably vigorous and short-haired dogs, 

 sponging with cold water is serviceable. Enveloping the 

 patient in a sheet wetted with either tepid or cold water, 

 and covering with two or three blankets, constituting what 

 is entitled the ' wet pack,' is not generally so convenient 

 in veterinary practice as either sponging or douching (see 

 Water, p. 152). 



Douches or Affusions of cold water, frequently repeated, 

 are used in the early treatment of bruises, harness galls, 

 bumped knees, and other cedematous swellings. They are 

 often beneficial in cases of prolapsed rectum, or vagina, 

 and in the preliminary treatment of inverted uterus, 

 wrenched joint, periostitis, tendinitis, and synovial dropsy 

 of joint or tendon sheath. Prolonged douching is strongly 

 recommended as a remedy for recent scrotal hernia, and as 



